Wood Ducks.
As most mornings, there are a two or three pair sitting in the oaks. They are still in their egg laying phase, laying one egg a day until they have a clutch, then they will begin brooding them so they all hatch at the same time. We have one nesting box, as do both of our neighbors, and there are more boxes around the bend on the north shore. Apparently there are not enough boxes as there are two females laying eggs in our box. I do not understand the dynamics of that, but I suppose it works. The parents do not have to feed the ducklings, they just lead them to the water and paddle around with them as they eat. We have half a dozen large oaks along the shore. As the ducks do not seem to be territorial in regards to their nesting boxes, I guess I have some carpentry in my future.
2 comments:
Lucky you! (Except that you have to look at that McMansion across the lake.) I hope those wood duck hens aren't territorial. I watched a turf battle between cardinal hens that resulted in the eggs' going unprotected. Only one hatched out of five.
I hate all those "gold coast" homes that have been built since we moved here. Our next door neighbor, the late Maude Koevnig, longtime Nature's Way writer for the A.L.Tribune wrote a blistering column about Bill and Kaye Hayes house (pictured) during construction. The paper chose not to print it. Too bad, it was quite good - tough to beat a pissed-off articulate old woman with nothing to lose. I miss her.
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