Adjoining the centre is a large pond which, although decorative, has the prime purpose of trapping sediment and refuse before it is washed down the stormwater channels and into the Murrumbidgee River, just a few kilometres away.
Up until a few weeks ago there were, among the native water-fowl who make their homes on this pond, three white ducks.....those domestic ducks that we associate with farmyards the world over and, most likely, the same type that gave the Disney studios the idea to produce Donald, Daisy and Huey, Duey & Louie!
However, on one walk I noticed that one of the ducks had gone missing and assumed that the poor unfortunate bird had become a meal for a fox - and we get quite a few of those around here in the open paddocks.
So imagine my surprise when I was walking past the pond yesterday and saw that Daisy had returned with a family of eleven new fluffy yellow ducklings!
The other two adults - whom I assume are males (Huey & Dewy? Maybe the mother is Louise, not Daisy!) were not too far away and actually quacked loudly as I approached the bank of the pond. So they must have been keeping a protective eye on the new arrivals too.
