Published: Thursday, 14th January, 2010 3:09pm

Feathered visitor turned up at nitespot!

by Jim Stark

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The Scottish SPCA is seeking the owner of an ever-increasing group of ducks, all found separately over the past two weeks in Cowdenbeath.

Known as Call ducks because of their vocal nature, the small domestic birds are usually kept as pets.

The first female duck was found on New Year's Day on the doorstep of a house on Broad Street.

Two further female ducks arrived at the Scottish SPCA Wildlife Rescue Centre at Middlebank in West Fife last week, and a fourth male duck was found outside a local pub on Thursday evening at closing time. The fifth duck, also male, arrived in the charity's care on Monday morning.

But there was an anxious punter with a difference outside The Partners in Cowdenbeath on Thursday. The young male call duck, was found waiting in the High Street pub's doorway as proprietor Andrew Kirk was locking up.

In sub-zero temperatures, the duck was clearly desperate to get indoors, and reckoned a warm and comfortable bar offered the perfect escape from the wintry weather.

"I thought I was seeing things," said Andrew. "It was just walking about back and forward on the street and I was worried that it might get run over so I brought it in."

After sitting the duck on the bar wondering what to do with it, Andrew put it in a box and a customer took it home for the night.

The next day the duck was given the once-over by a vet at Inglis Veterinary Centre in Cowdenbeath and then taken to Inglis' 24-hour animal hospital in Dunfermline.

Christened Guinness by staff there, the duck was fed and bathed and later transferred to the SSPCA's wildlife centre at Middlebank just outside Dunfermline where it remains until manager Colin Seddon tries to find out who owns it and the other ducks.

Colin said, "It's very unusual for us to receive domestic pets, but as we have the facilities to look after ducks here we were more than happy to provide shelter and care.

"When we introduced the second female duck into the enclosure the first duck ran over to greet her, so it was quite obvious that they knew each other. They've been arriving steadily over the past few days and they've all happily settled in together, walking around and resting as a group.

"Call ducks come in a range of colours, but the three females that we have are all a distinct apricot shade so we think they could be from the one family.

"They are all in good condition which leads us to believe that they may have escaped from their enclosure rather than being unwanted or abandoned. If anyone recognises the ducks we're urging them to get in touch."

Anyone with information relating to the ducks should call the Scottish SPCA Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999.