If the ducks in the water look ok then I think they are probably ok and not suffering from loss of oil on their feathers, and there did seem more ducks in the water this morning. However I saw 2 ducks out of the water who looked fine, but when they went into the water they became waterlogged almost immediately, so the problem seems far from over at the moment 
We seem to have lost all but one of the Tuffted ducks over the last couple of days The Coot who looked quite bad the end of last week looked a lot better today, not perfect but a lot better, I think this means that hopefully a lot of the ducks will survive. The biggest losers were the Dabchicks, which is no surprise, because they HAVE to dive to get food and if the are waterlogged they may not come back up and probably just drowned.
On a more positive note, the young Dabchick who was rescued by the RSPCA on Friday, is apparently doing very well and will be released on the Slea when a bit more mature.
The E.A. are still awaiting the outcome of the water sample testing taken last week and the 2 dead ducks were also going to be examined to see if the cause of death could be determined. A further dead duck was discovered today on the green outside the hub.
Here is a picture of a Mallard in flight taken on the Slea a while ago…
Terry