10 ducklings rescued from storm drain

Call them lucky ducks.

Thanks to police and firefighters from Haddon Township, 10 ducklings were pulled to safety after being trapped down a storm drain at Cooper River Park over the weekend.

The drama unfolded Saturday afternoon when Sue Hamilton spotted a female mallard standing on a grate on South Park Drive.

"I was concerned because I didn't want her to get hit," Hamilton said.

Hamilton drove around the block and then went to check the grate as the duck watched from a distance.

"I heard noise coming out of the grate," she said. "I saw four of the babies."

The mother duck, Hamilton said, "was clearly upset she could not get to them."

A few phone calls later and a handful of police and firefighters arrived. After pulling up the grate, Officer Kirk Earney climbed into the drain and started handed up the ducklings — 10 in all, said Hamilton.

One by one they were taken to their mother who stood away at a safe distance.

"She quieted down, like she knew what was happening," Hamilton said of the mother duck.

Reunited with her brood, the mother mallard then waddled off to the river with the wayward ducklings trailing behind, said Hamilton.

"It worked out well," she said.

Contact Joseph A. Gambardello at 856-779-3844 or gambarj@phillynews.com.