'We could hear ducklings make noise': Three rescued from Marlborough storm drain

MARLBOROUGH — A team of rescuers helped save three baby ducks that had fallen into a storm drain Monday in downtown Marlborough.

The ducklings had fallen into a drain at the busy intersection of Bolton Street and Granger Boulevard.

Alyssa Giaquinto, of The Giaquinto Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, along with the Marlborough Animal Control Officer and members of the Marlborough Police and Public Works departments all worked together to rescue the ducklings from the drain.

Related: A dozen ducklings saved from Ashland storm drain

According to Giaquinto, police were contacted by a resident who saw an adult duck walking back and forth into traffic near a storm drain at the intersection. Giaquinto was then contacted due to concerns that animals might be in danger.

"Around this time of year, when water fowl are having their babies, if you get a report of a mother duck looking distressed around a storm drain, there is a good chance the ducklings have fallen into it," she said. "I had to lay down on the pavement and put my ear up to the drain, and we could hear the ducklings making noise down there."

Giaquinto said she and the others had to work quickly, as ducklings at this early stage of their life are at enormous risk. Specifically, they have yet to develop the oil in their feathers that makes ducks naturally buoyant, meaning that they can easily drown if left unsupervised.

Marlborough police officers, including Giaquinto's husband, Mike Giaquinto, and Dave Priest, warded off traffic while public works employee Alex Szczepaniak helped remove the sewer grate as Giaquinto and Bellarosa worked to extract the ducks.

Three ducklings were rescued from the drain; unfortunately, Giaquinto believes two others drowned. One of those that was saved needed to be warmed up before it was allowed to walk off with its mother.

"There was one who we recovered and we were concerned that he wasn't going to make it," Giaquinto said. "He was cold and shivering when we recovered him from the sewer. Ducks at that age need the warmth of their mother to survive, so he was in a lot of trouble. But he pulled through."

The remaining ducks were placed near their mother, who was able to safely lead them across the street and into a nearby body of water, where they swam away.

Giaquinto said the mother duck had made her nest in the median of the road at the intersection.

"Mother ducks will typically make their nests near a body of water, and after their babies hatch, they lead them to the body of water for the first time. It's a very dangerous time for the ducks; they are targeted by predators, they can be hit by cars, they can fall into storm drains," Giaquinto said. "The mother duck had actually made her nest in the median in the road, which meant she must have been crossing the street all the time."

Giaquinto, whose animal rehabilitation center takes in orphaned animals and works to reintroduce them to the wild, was grateful for the assistance she had from municipal employees.

"Everyone did a great job," Giaquinto said.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Rescuers save ducklings after they fell into Marlborough storm drain