Dyfed ducks

So many eggs

 It was lovely to spend the first sit back from hot and dry Australia, in the lush green hills of Wales.  The Spring lambs were bouncing about and the Daffodils and forsythia added a splash of yellow to complement the green.

This was a new sit for us, and we soon made friends with the ponies, cats, and dog, as well as a family of ducks.

Ladies having lunch

Reginald, a true gentleman

The ducks were very interesting to watch, we love ducks for their 'chatty' ways, how they mutter away to each other, keeping in close contact.

Reginald had his ladies well looked after.  He was a true gentleman, letting them eat first and only approaching the trough when they had all finished.

One day a couple of wild mallards flew onto their pond, which sent Reggie into a spin, making sure his ladies were safe.

We helped him by clapping our hands and shooing the two imposters away.

The ducks produced 3 to 4 eggs a day.  They had a duck house to sleep in at night, so the eggs were easy to find.  One night they stayed out on the pond, and the next day, although we searched hard, we didn't find any eggs, although the magpies did.

We washed and dated the eggs with a pencil and then set about thinking up recipes to use the eggs. 

We were quite surprised at the reaction we got from friends and family when we told them that we were eating duck eggs.  We had comments from disgust at eating them, to unaware that they could be eaten.  They are just like big chicken eggs.  I would say they are creamier than chicken eggs and definitely more filling. 

They were lovely in baking, I made some welsh cakes and a sponge, as well as omelet and a frittata.  With any recipe I substituted one duck egg for 2 chicken eggs.

They all had their own characters, and we were sure they spent all day thinking of ways to test us.

Thank you Reggie and girls for your lovely eggs and the pleasure of watching your little family waddle about  your daily routine.