Lock-keeper Tony Wright is caring for eight ducklings which hatched after becoming confused by unusually warm weather.
Lock-keeper Tony Wright is caring for eight ducklings which hatched on the Coventry Canal after becoming confused by unusually warm weather.
Wright, who looks after the flight of 11 locks at Atherstone, called the discovery “bizarre” but said he wasn’t entirely surprised: “When I looked at the trees and I had to remind myself it really was the middle of November. Many still had leaves, the grass was still growing and to cap it all, eight fluffy ducklings were bobbing around in the canal.”
British Waterways ecologist Jonathan Brickland said: “We had a warm spell a little while ago and it’s really thrown things about in the natural world. It could mean a bad year for some wildlife next year as they are tricked into early pollination and reproduction.
“Now the winter has set in for good, wildlife that has been confused by the warm October weather will be fighting for its survival.”
