Ducklings on the pond

The Skilpadsvlei wetland in Kommetjie is now home to a Yellow-billed mommy duck and 7 ducklings! This very successful venture by local ecologists, with the support of the City of Cape Town, has seen an expanse of grass turned into a thriving nature area, with a large pond hosting a variety of birdlife, frogs and perhaps fish, surrounded by indigenous reeds and other vegetation. I helped with the planting of this last winter (see a previous blog) and it is rewarding to see how well everything has grown. The wooden walkway across the sometimes dry vlei area has successfully kept walkers on the straight and narrow and allowed nature to reclaim the area. When campers first came to Kommetjie about 100 years ago, this was a natural vlei, but the coming of development with drainage and roads turned it into just another unkempt field. Hats off to Wally Petersen for making this project his baby!

I took some pictures of the babies - hopefully they will all make it to adulthood!