Duck mystery!

A few days ago I really got a fright. I went down to feed the animals in the evening and saw that only the baby duck had come up for  her dinner. An uneasy feeling came over me. Where could Donald and Buttercup be? I strained to see down at the dam, whether they were still there, but I couldn't see them anywhere. I decided to go back up to the house and put on my gumboots as its still rather mushy down by the dam. I took a slow walk down to the bottom dam but they were nowhere to be seen. If they hadn't come up for dinner and they weren't on the dam, well that was not good news. I looked around the dam for any evidence of feathers or remains of duck. The fox doesn't come in the daytime so this was very confusing. I saw no evidence and continue to look for Buttercup and Donald. As the sun began to set, I went back up to the house. I was sad that they had gone and mentally kick myself for not taking Buttercup eggs and putting them in the incubator. Oh well that was a risk they took by going down to the bottom dam. I should really seal the top pond but don't have the manpower nor the energy at the moment to tackle the job of this nature on my own. The following morning they both came waddling up as if  nothing was wrong, which makes me think that perhaps Buttercup is becoming broody and has made an nest along the fence line and that's where they were instead of missing. They were both as hungry as lions and devoured a bowl of mash, then happily reunited with the baby and Waddled back down to the pond to go do what ducks do. I was relieved and realised just how important sealing off the top pond has become. With the fox around, and an ever present worry that he may be brave enough to attack in broad daylight, it was a job that  needed to be done.  I made a mental note, Come high water, the pond needed sealing off soon.