Tufted Ducklings: Swimming, Diving, & Riding

I don't know whether this is cuter in large ("L") or not.

This mother (on Wandsworth Common) has 17 two-day-old ducklings! They are excessively cute: I think it is a combination of their quantity and quality in this instance. What (little) they lack in individual cuteness (they aren't Egyptian goslings...), they more than make up for in number (17!).
Yes, this is one duckling riding on its mother's back; yes, that is another two (duck) diving under the water (tufted ducks are diving ducks, so find food at the bottom of the pond). It was hard to choose which picture to blip: the ones of the duckling sliding off its mother were quite cute, as were the ones that showed others swimming under the surface. (Alternative)

Another interesting sight on the pond was what I believe is my first sighting of mallufted ducklings (half mallard, half tufted duckling). Was this besotted tufted drake responsible?
There were five of these ducklings swimming with their mother: they are all much darker than normal mallardlings (although they vary in darkness) but still have recognisable mallard patterning on their heads. BUT, they all hop up and dive under the water (and swim below the surface) like tufted ducklings! The mother must be somewhat confused:
"Why do they keep doing that?! How embarrassing..."

p.s. This was take with the 24-70mm: the images look quite different to me (esp. the bokeh)... I rather wished that I'd had my longer lens on once I spotted all of the new arrivals, but this lens was sharp enough to crop in closer. I'd not mounted the 70-200 as I went on to meet a friend at Barnes after visiting Wandsworth, and thought I'd get my blip there!