Minnesota-based wildlife photographer Brent Cizek captured this adorable photo of a mother duck, followed by more than 50 cute fluffy ducklings.
After a trip with his small boat on Lake Bemidji, he steered it toward the shore and discovered what appeared to be a team of small ducks.
As he approached, he could see a mother duck and several ducklings. And when he got closer, that few turned into a few dozen.
“The closer I got, the more my heart skipped a beat because I had never witnessed anything like this before,” explained Cizek.
“I knew this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity, so I immediately tried to take as many photos as I could, just hoping that one of the pictures would turn out.”
He captured this moment as the mother was watched by 50 cute fluffy ducklings when he went to see them next month; he counted 76!
After posting his pictures on social media, the Audubon Society took notice, which means many people started going to Lake Bemidji to see the duckling team!
Audubon field editor Kenn Kaufman said: “While 50 is definitely on the high end, such big brood counts are actually pretty common.”
This is at least partly because ducks often lay their eggs in the nests of other ducks. In fact, Kaufman says that a female duck will have a nest of her own and may also find her way to another nest or two to drop off a few eggs.
