Duck!

Female Shelduck chases a female Gadwall from it's new clutch of ducklings

A pair of Shelduck had just hatched 10 new ducklings and the parents were busily trying to keep them from being predated.

Another pair was down to a single surviving offspring having probably started with a simlar number to this brood.

Unfortunately I don't think that this female Gadwall is going to cause too much trouble to the ducklings as it's been a peregrine and a crow that have seen off most of the others!

Nevertheless the Shelduck chased it off on several occasions thus leaving all 10 ducklings in the custody of the drake bird and obviously more vulnerable to predation.

I did think however that it made and interesting photo all the same!