The four mallard ducklings, appearing and disappearing amid the forest of pilings, forage their way toward the river wall moving eastward. The four remaining goslings, nearly the size of their parents, feed on the algae found on the pilings parallel to the river wall, swimming southward. Eventually, at the place where the two sets of pilings converge, the two sets of offspring come together. When the ducks intermingle with the geese, the goslings make several passes at the much smaller ducklings in attempts to attack them. But, as a result of being in fairly open water, not hemmed in by goslings, and proficient swimmers, the ducklings avoid all the assaults, escaping without a blow striking home. As the goslings return to feeding, the mallard hen leads her brood away to safer waters.
After about two minutes, the mallard hen comes speeding back along the route she just traversed, quacking loudly. She stops abruptly when she locates before her the reason for the urgency: a single duckling left behind among the pilings and the geese. Upon seeing the duckling, the hen turns, rapidly retracing her path, trailed by the rescued duckling. The two then climb out of the river onto a flat concrete slab under the pier, where the hen had deposited her three other youngsters. They shake off the river water and the duckling drops down beside its mates to rest, while mama stands and watches over them.
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