One of the memorable activities of our stay at Whitbarrow was the DUCKS! There’s a big family of quackers that live in and around the apartments and villas who are also fed on a regular basis by the many children who visit.
They have a biggish duck pond in the centre surrounded by rocks and trees but seem to spend a lot of their time visiting those families who feed them regularly. We were convinced they recognised Alice after the first couple of days as they waddled and quacked their way straight to her. (I’d say made a bee-line for her but they’re ducks, not bees of course).
All this duck-feeding meant we went through quite a lot of bread but luckily due to many previous visits to Keswick we knew where to buy proper bags of real duck food. From the cafe by the lake. It still just looked like cornflakes to us but gave the Whitbarrow ducks a bit of a change of diet.
Every morning Alice shot out of our chalet and fed them their breakfast, and at the end of a good day outdoors she loved feeding them their tea. We soon recognised individual characters in the team, one with scruffy feathers and a few couples who waited patiently for their turn at the bread. It was fun to try and find where they were hiding in the mornings and to spot the first few arriving to munch. Then of course word quickly spread that breakfast was served, until the flock descended from wherever they’d spent the night to flap and quack about, and fight over the crumbs.
Feeding ducks is such a simple outdoor activity but such a pleasure to take time to enjoy especially for children.