YOUNGSTERS at George Dent Nursery, in Darlington, have been overseeing the early days of life of seven ducklings and a gosling at the climax of a project looking into life cycles.

During the eggs' 28 days in an incubator, the youngsters sprinkled them with water to simulate wet ducks returning from a swim, and used a cellascope to look through the eggs and see the formation of the foetuses.

The ducklings are seven days old today, and the gosling five days old, and proved perfect playmates for Adam Trotman, four, Rebecca Whalley, three, Paige Beadle, three, and Ruth Abramson, four. The nursery's next life cycle project will look at caterpillars and butterflies.