Cork hotel staff save ducklings born on balcony

Eleven ducklings born on a high floor of a Cork hotel needed a helping hand making it to the river.

The Clarion Hotel on Lapps Quay, Cork, noticed they had some unregistered guests on their sixth-floor balcony this week - 11 ducklings that had just recently hatched from a nest made there.

"They were on the balcony at the apartments on Clontarf Street," said Zuzana, who works in sales at the hotel.

"The eggs were there [for some time], but we didn't know they were until they hatched and started walking around."

Unfortunately, mother duck was not quite able to persuade the five-day old hatchlings to jump from the sixth floor and hope they learned to fly on the way down.

This led to a distressed duck crossing the street repeatedly outside the building, as staff members tried to catch her and bring her to the ducklings.

"Because they were so high, and our balconies have railings, the little ducks were probably afraid," Zuzana said.

The staff didn't want to go near the nest as there were two unhatched eggs remaining - so they called in the CSPCA.

The CSPCA staff member knew by looking, however, that the remaining two eggs would never hatch, so he packed up the ducklings in a box and helped them with a lift to the ground floor, to be reunited with mum.

"The mother understanding what we were trying to do, jumped into the river and they all followed her."

And isn't that just lovely for the week after Easter?

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From the Clarion Hotel Cork on Facebook.