Wildlife photographer Brent Cizek decided to visit the northern lakes of Minnesota to take some photos. He hoped to capture some intimate scenes of animals in their natural habitat. But in the end, Brent had no idea how intimate it would become.

“Well, it wasn’t the best idea, as it was quite windy that day and the waves were rocking my boat in any direction they wanted,” Cizek told MNN. “I decided to continue, knowing that I was not likely to see anything, let alone take a picture in the choppy water.”

After taking his small boat around the lake, he directed it towards the shore. At the moment she spotted what appeared to be a flock. When she got closer she could see that there was a mother duck and a few ducklings. Only the few became several dozen.

“The closer I got, the more my heart raced, because I had never seen anything like it,” the photographer explained. “As I got closer, the group decided to start swimming back to the lake, and ‘Mama Merganser’ took the lead and all the chicks went in tow. I knew this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity, so I immediately tried to shoot as many photos as I could, hoping one of them would turn out well.”

The super mommy duck was followed by a whopping 56 ducklings. “I found a focused image that I loved,” she says. “I knew it would do well on social media, so I posted the photo right away” And it didn’t take long for her image to go viral on social media.

However, upon closer look it turned out that there was even more. “I was then able to count 76 babies with her, so she had picked up more babies along the way,” he said. “It has been extraordinary. It’s going to be a sad day when they continue migrating her.”

Most likely, it was not a single brood, but a mixed family. But despite that, this duck is undoubtedly the mom of the year!

Image Credit: Brent Cizek