Solace day 5.

There once was an ugly duckling.......  Well no quite cute really!  We spotted this clutch swimming along with Mum and one was obviously the "black sheep" of the family. What I suspect is the answer is that the female has had multiple matings with different drakes, this is very common in Mallards.  One of those matings must have been with a white "farm yard" drake.  Most domestic duck breeds are descended from Mallards so this is perfectly possible.

During the day we continued heading south but tied up earlier than usual as the area round the north portal to the Harecastle tunnel has been known to cause problems for boaters with silly local youths.