Ducklings

I was surprised yesterday during my walk by how big this season's ducklings have grown. They're over half the size of their parents already. It reminded me of a little duckling saga I witnessed last year. I was watching two families with their baby ducklings in tow, and how the little ones were meandering here and there under their parents' watchful eyes. Both groups had 4 ducklings each. At one point when the two groups got closer together, one little guy moved over and merged with the other group's ducklings. As that family started to move away, their was a sound by one of the little guy's parents I think, and he looked up and scooted back over to his family.
I saw these two groups the next week, and one family had 5 ducklings, and the other one had 3.
The following week, I watched the two groups moving down the river, and one family had 6 ducklings, and the other one had 2.

Later on, after their parents had moved on, and they were on their own, I saw 4 nearly full grown ducks on the pathway.

Things were eventually sorted out I guess.