My first thought was that it was the bunny who's been nibbling on my flowers here lately...but my first instinct was to scream - no matter how cute or fuzzy the object - I wasn't expecting it!
After screaming bloody murder and probably waking all the neighbors - I realized it was just a mama mallard duck - and after peering into the bushes I now know why she was there! Yup, a whole nest full of eggs! After a little reading up on the subject - I know now that she's been visiting that spot for the last several days at least. They lay one egg a day - and when I saw it this morning there were at least 6!
Thankfully she returned to the nest after I scared her out - for a second I was worried that she would abandon the spot and all the eggs. But after uploading the photos, I peeked out the front door and could see her sitting there over her nest.
The duck couple have been visiting our yard for a few years now - we know each time they visit because the dogs bark and the cat goes crazy at the window - more so than usual. We even found a lone egg in the front trees by the sidewalk once - pretty sure it was an abandoned nest site - with all the kids playing out by the sidewalk I doubt she wanted to stay there long.
But nestled by our front window and front door behind our bushes - the only distraction she has is when I open the window and the dogs bark out or when we walk around the the front yard looking at the flowers like I was this morning when she scared me...or I scared her...whatever - we were both scared and staring pretty shocked at each other.
Hopefully we'll get a glance of the fuzzy brood long enough to snap a few pictures before she hurries them off to the nearby pond. They should all hatch in 24-28 days!
2 comments:
Oh How Fun!!! Maybe this means that our DuckCouple will have babies nearby this year too -- I'd be terribly excited. Good Luck as the chosen family!!!
That's so nice! We have a duck couple too that visit our block every year, we call them Fred & Ethel.
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