🌿 A Gentle Glimpse into the Lives of Wild Duck Families
This blog is a quiet documentary project that follows the lives of wild spot-billed ducks (Anas poecilorhyncha)—commonly known in Japan as karugamo.
Filmed with a super-zoom compact camera and no artificial editing, each post records the natural behaviors of mother ducks and their ducklings as they journey through city parks, rivers, and dams.
Rather than scripted narration, each entry is based on real-time observation.
Moments of joy, danger, confusion, and reunion are captured exactly as they happen—offering readers an unfiltered window into the everyday challenges and triumphs of duck family life.
🐥 What Are Karugamo?
Karugamo are a species of wild dabbling duck native to East Asia.
In Japan, they are commonly seen in urban waterways and are known for their distinctive features:
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Medium-sized, with a brown body and yellow-tipped black bill
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Calm and quiet, often foraging in shallow water
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Strong maternal instinct: mothers fiercely protect and guide their ducklings
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Ducklings leave the nest soon after hatching and follow their mother everywhere
A typical family includes 7 to 13 ducklings, who must navigate steep dams, predators, urban obstacles, and human presence in their first few weeks of life.
🎥 How Are These Diaries Made?
All videos in this blog are:
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📷 Filmed with a handheld super-zoom compact camera (Nikon P1000 / P950)
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🔇 Unedited and silent, preserving the natural soundscape
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📅 Recorded as real-time field documentation, not staged or summarized
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✍️ Annotated with precise timestamps, highlighting key moments
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🔤 Organized using a unique alphanumeric code system (explained below)
This method allows each post to serve as a faithful field log—documenting not just cute moments, but the deep social and behavioral dynamics of wild duck families.
🗂️ Code System: How We Organize Observations
📅 Date Code: MMDD + YearLetter
To identify the exact date and year of filming, each video uses a four-digit date (month + day) followed by a year-based letter.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0719F | July 19, 2025 (F = 2025, starting from 2020) |
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MM= Month (01–12) -
DD= Day (01–31) -
Final letter = Filming year
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A or no letter = 2020
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B = 2021, C = 2022, D = 2023...
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F = 2025, G = 2026, etc.
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💡 Example:
0719F= Filmed on July 19, 2025
🦆 Duck Family Code: MotherID + YearLetter + DucklingCount - AgeInDays
Each duck family is labeled with a compact code that captures their identity and the ducklings' age on the observation day.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
Gf7-65 | Mother G’s 2025 family (f), with 7 ducklings, filmed on day 65 of their life |
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First letter: Mother duck ID
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Second letter (a–z): Year indicator, shared with the date code
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Number before hyphen: Number of ducklings
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Number after hyphen: Approximate age of the ducklings in days
✅ The same year-letter system is used in both the date and family codes, to keep records consistent.
🧾 Example Combination
Code Interpretation 0719FFilmed on July 19, 2025 Gf7-65Duck family: Mother G, 2025, 7 ducklings, 65 days old
| Code | Interpretation |
|---|---|
0719F | Filmed on July 19, 2025 |
Gf7-65 | Duck family: Mother G, 2025, 7 ducklings, 65 days old |
These codes are used in every post, video, and timestamp to ensure a systematic and searchable record of all observations.
📘 Thank You for Visiting
Urban Wild Duck Diaries is a quiet tribute to the lives of wild creatures who live beside us, often unnoticed.
Whether you're here for the adorable ducklings, the quiet drama of survival, or the joy of real-time nature observation—I hope these stories move and inspire you.
🌱 Observed. Not staged.
🦆 Real families. Real choices.
🎥 One camera, countless memories.
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