RESIDENTS of Aberaeron are scratching their heads and wondering where all their ducks have gone.

For the past three decades, dozens of mallards have populated the harbourside and the riverside walk, growing fat on tasty titbits thrown to them by locals and holidaymakers alike.

But over the past couple of weeks the ducks appear to have completely vanished – and no-one is quite sure what has happened to them.

A plaintive sign posted down on the quayside suggests “fowl play” could be involved.

‘Who has been culling our ducks?’ it asks.

“I haven’t seen any ducks for a while,” said Kevin Foot, of Honey Ice Cream. “It is a bit strange because there’s normally a lot about – could they have gone somewhere upstream?”

Shivering holidaymaker Eric Williams suggested the unseasonably chilly weather was a factor.

Town councillor Phill Davies is equally mystified. “This place was teeming with ducks a couple of weeks back,” he said. “Now you’re lucky if you just see a handful."

Cllr Davies said many locals still affectionately refer to the mallards as “Dan’s Ducks” after the late fisherman Dan Jenkins, a fondly-remembered local character who unwittingly established the mallard colony back in the 1980s.

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