A female Mallard with four tiny ducklings on the Kip Water in Inverkip this afternoon was my first record of proven breeeding for the species this year. A drake, presumably the male of the pair, was asleep on the adjacent bank. A pair of Oystercatchers were flying around Kip Marina, possibly attempting to breed. Chiffchaff and Chaffinch were the most obvious singers in the nearby woods.