Photos: Baby ducks jump off bridge at Disney World to escape tourists

Spring at Walt Disney World means baby ducks waddling around the theme parks. Most of the time they walk around unencumbered. Then there are times park guests get in their way and these waterfowl families need to take some extreme measures to get to the safety of greenery or water.

Recently I witnessed this at the Magic Kingdom where a mother and her ducklings were minding their own business crossing the bridge between Tomorrowland and the hub when tourists got in the way.

This specific bridge has a clear view of the Cinderella Castle that is often used as a backdrop for photos.  Here the ducks were walking from Tomorrowland to the hub, trying to get to the grass and eventually down to the water.

The mother led the group of five ducklings at a steady pace over the bridge when guests decided to take a closer look at the family. They blocked the path momentarily, but long enough for momma duck to turn the group around and attempt to cross back over the bridge.

But the walk seemed long and the potential tourists getting in the way plentiful. So momma duck decided there was only one way to get to the water. Jump off the bridge.

The mother duck was first to go. She took a step up the ledge and looked at her family. A few of the ducks followed and climbed up the concrete step. The audience on the bridge grew in size. Murmurs of  “What is she doing?” and “No” could be heard.

The mother duck took one last glance around and jumped. She spread her wings and landed with a splash, craned her neck up and started quacking for her ducklings to follow.

One by one the little ones went to the edge, as you can see by the sequence of photos I captured, they took the leap. It should be noted that baby ducks don’t fly. They fell straight down into the water. The lighter ones bounced a little, but eventually, they all made it down safely. They swam around for a bit and then went off to spend the rest of their day in the Magic Kingdom –  which they call home.

Please, make sure you take some time with the photos to see where the duck is going down before looking at the closeup.