Several weeks ago, he watched a mother duck choose the concrete awning outside his window as the unlikely
place to build a nest above the sidewalk. The mallard laid ten eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks, and Monday afternoon all of her ten ducklings hatched.

Michael worried all night how the momma duck was going to get those
babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban
environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first
48 hours of a duck hatching.

Tuesday morning, Michael watched the mother duck encourage her
babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to
jump off. Office work came to a standstill as everyone
gathered to watch.

The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies
above. In disbelief Michael watched as the first fuzzy
newborn trustingly toddled to the edge and astonishingly lept
into thin air, crashing onto the cement below. Michael couldn't
stand to watch this risky effort nine more times! He dashed
out of his office and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk
where the first obedient duckling, near its mother,
was resting in a stupor after the near-fatal
fall. Michael stood out of sight under the awning-planter,
ready to help.

As the second one took the plunge, Michael jumped forward and
caught it with his bare hands before it hit the concrete. Safe
and sound, he set it down by its momma and the other
stunned sibling, still recovering from that painful
leap. (The momma must have sensed that Michael was
trying to help her babies.)

One by one the babies continued to jump. Each time Michael hid
under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the
duckling made its free fall. At the scene the busy
downtown sidewalk traffic came to a
standstill. Time after time, Michael was able to catch
the remaining eight and set them by their approving mother.

At this point Michael realized the duck family had only made part
of its dangerous journey. They had two full blocks to walk
across traffic, crosswalks, curbs and past pedestrians to get
to the closest open water, the River , site of the famed
"River Walk." The on looking office secretaries and
several Edmonton police officers
joined in. An empty copy-paper box was brought to
collect the babies.

They carefully corralled them, with the mother's approval, and
loaded them in the container. Michael held the box low enough for
the mom to see her brood. He then slowly navigated through the
downtown streets toward the River the mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight,
all the way.

As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him,
jumping in the river and quacking loudly.

At the water's edge, Michael tipped the box and helped shepherd
the babies toward the water and to the waiting mother after
their adventurous ride.

All ten darling ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled
up snugly to momma. Michael said the mom swam in circles, looking
back toward the beaming bank bookkeeper, and proudly quacked.

At last, all present and accounted for: "We're all
together again. We're here! We're here!"

And here's a family portrait before they head outward to
further adventures...

Like all of us in the big times of our life, they never could have
made it alone without lots of helping hands.

I think it gives the name of the famous "River Walk" a whole new
meaning!

If Tony Hayward put the "damage" in damage control, those duckling sure put the "cute" in how cut is that!