Tufted ducklings

I went to the large pond on Wandsworth Common this afternoon: there are still all the older chicks (mallard ducklings, juvenile coots) but there are also a whole plethora of new and very young birds... Mallard ducklings (inc. a new brood of 13), cootlings (a new brood of 3), tufted ducklings (inc. a new brood of 15!), as well as quite little Egyptian goslings and various other ducklings. Because of this, I was able to set my personal best today: one photo featuring a mallard, a tufted duck, and their 28 ducklings all muddled together as they crossed paths... It was also funny because as they continued on their separate ways, the ducklings became confused, so each parent ended up with a mixed "creche", which stayed that way for the better part of an hour (until they crossed paths again, and the situation rectified itself).

Given that tufted ducks are diving ducks, it might seem obvious that tufted ducklings are diving ducklings... It may be obvious, but it is a major understatement: they are pretty much underwater ducklings... I watched the brood of 15 for quite a while, and they spend an awful lot of their time diving! It is very funny, because they don't just stick their heads under and dive, but they leap up into the air (right out of the water) in an arc before plunging underwater head first.
This photo is two looking peaceful, and one penetrating the water after doing its little leap: those are its tail and feet sticking out of the water. I've many photos of them in various stages of their leap/dive, but they were in the very dark part of the pond (under tree cover) so I wasn't able to use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action like I wanted... I've uploaded a couple more to Blipfolio (here and here) to show the rest of the humorous manoeuvre.

Here is my preferred photo on Blipfolio: it is a finer photograph, but it had less of a back story and is more typical of my photos...