One Lucky Duck
A storm-tossed eider duckling washed up on King's Beach last weekend and was rescued by a dog, its owner and the Swampscott animal control officer.
Eiders are big strong sea ducks that dive 40 to 50 feet in cold Atlantic water and rip mussels from rocks and swallow them whole. But as downy hatchlings they are vulnerable to a similar fate from big hungry seagulls. After last week's ocean storm, a King's Beach walker — alerted by his German shepherd — rescued an eider duckling wrapped in seaweed at the Swampscott shore. The man brought the duckling home and later talked to Diane Treadwell, Swampscott's animal control officer. Diane picked up the duckling and drove it to the Marblehead Animal Shelter for care. It was a couple weeks old, and already it had a strong beak. "He was really cute," she said. Cute but panicky. Diane figured the eider got separated in the storm from its fellow …
