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| Wood Duck begins incubating on Wednesday evening, March 19, 2014 -- Parc Perlière -- Charleston, SC |
When I came home from work last night, I spotted a male Wood Duck alone in the creek. He appeared to be rather alert, and dare I say, looking a bit lonely. So I peeked inside the box via our live video feed and saw his little female all snuggled up over her eggs .... and probably the eggs of the second duck as well! Incubation has begun! Mark the date! In 36 days, we hope to see chicks jumping out of the box!
We have not yet counted eggs. We will need to do it this weekend when the female leaves the box in the morning to feed. But what about that second female?! If there are more than 8 eggs in the box, the second female was indeed laying eggs. We are pretty sure she was. For at least 3 days, she spent an hour in the box and was coming into the box a little earlier each day. Yesterday, Duck no. 2 came in an hour after Duck no. 1 had left. Carl and I are wondering what is going to happen today when duck no. 2 shows up! We hope that there will not be a battle in the box. Will the male be outside to defend home turf? What a shame for the second female that there is not enough nesting space for her!
It is 5:25 am. I just peeked inside the box. Mama is there awake. Those pesky Great-Horned Owls are having a conversation right now, waking up the neighborhood. We live in a rather heavily populated area close to Folly Road. And yet we still are able to enjoy having wildlife such as Wood Ducks, Great Horned Owls and Red-Tailed Hawks raising families in our "back yard!" We will see what the day holds for our Wood Ducks and I will keep you posted! Good morning, everyone! Let's hope it is a good morning for the Wood Ducks and their eggs!
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