It's never easy having a big family but this duck has shown there is no limit to a mother's love as she takes 16 on a taxi ride across the pond.

Half a dozen of the young ones appear to actually be sitting on her back, while the rest grab a hold of the train and take advantage of the slipstream she created for an easier ride.

Mark Chrimes, 49, captured the image in Queen's Park Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, and was shocked by the sheer number of ducks he spotted. 

He said: 'When I started counting how many ducklings were riding along on their mums back I couldn't believe how high it was.

Sixteen seems like an unimaginable number by human standards and would be almost impossible to manage - but it's a big family for a duck too.

Ducks usually lay up to 12 eggs when they nest, so 16 is considerably larger than the average.