Still 15 eggs after a few days, so it looks like the home invader was able to lay only one or two eggs and she hasn't been back since. What does that mean? If no eggs have been laid for awhile, she is probably done and moved on to 'incubating'.
For a better explanation, I will cite my go-to source, the Wood Duck Society:
"When the entire clutch of eggs has been laid, the hen will begin full-time incubation. This assures that all the eggs have a good chance to hatch together on the same day. During the incubation period, the hen will leave the nest box twice daily to feed (morning and evening) for about 30 minutes.
The incubation period for wood ducks varies, but is usually between 28 and 32 days. The entire clutch hatches in less than 24 hours. The hen will leave the nest box with her new brood on the first morning after the initial egg was hatched. After surveying the terrain for predators, she flies down to the ground and begins calling out the brood. The young ducklings are eager to climb up the ladder inside the box and jump from the entrance hole when called. Getting her new brood safely to a pond for food and cover is essential for their survival."
If that is correct, 28 days from when I first noticed 15 eggs is May 20th. I'll be watching for a few days prior just in case. My kids bought me a Trail Camera for Christmas, so I hope to have that set up in time to catch the ducklings leaving the house as well.
Yesterday was a high drama day at Duck Manor.
Clearly there aren't enough houses for the number of female ducks and it is causing some fights.
Just after the kids left for school, I heard a lot of squawking on the Duck TV. I didn't see anything unusual on the monitor, so I looked outside and I saw another female on top of the duck house.
Was Skyler inside protecting her territory or was she outside trying to scare away the intruder?
(It's not uncommon for females to have a "compound nest" - see last year's blog for more. But I imagine it's pretty uncommon to get to watch the drama unfold. It isn't a happy space-sharing!)
I got out my camera and snapped a picture of the extra mama duck on top. Then I took a video so I could share what was happening. A few minutes later the extra mama duck was inside the house and they were in a pecking fight for almost 15 minutes. This video is just a short portion of that - the end where someone actually won and chased the loser out. I, of course, am hoping Skyler won out and chased the home invader out - but I have no way to tell.
The last bit of the drama occurred when the loser returned with her male. (Can you believe that?) They sat on top and loudly tried to intimidate whoever was inside for quite a while. Eventually the female went back in, but she was quickly kicked out this time. For several hours after that the pair just swam back and forth in front of the duck house, just waiting I imagine. The female inside stayed put.
By the afternoon, the female was ready to leave. I watched her just sit in the doorway looking out forever before she decided it was safe to exit. I wish I knew who won.
After she left I went down to count the eggs. (If I know when she is done laying, I'll know when to watch for them to hatch.) There were 11 eggs, which is consistent with one a day - meaning that both ducks did not lay an egg in the nest. We'll have to see how this plays out!
Yesterday was a high drama day at Duck Manor.
Clearly there aren't enough houses for the number of female ducks and it is causing some fights.
Just after the kids left for school, I heard a lot of squawking on the Duck TV. I didn't see anything unusual on the monitor, so I looked outside and I saw another female on top of the duck house.
Was Skyler inside protecting her territory or was she outside trying to scare away the intruder?
(It's not uncommon for females to have a "compound nest" - see last year's blog for more. But I imagine it's pretty uncommon to get to watch the drama unfold. It isn't a happy space-sharing!)
I got out my camera and snapped a picture of the extra mama duck on top. Then I took a video so I could share what was happening. A few minutes later the extra mama duck was inside the house and they were in a pecking fight for almost 15 minutes. This video is just a short portion of that - the end where someone actually won and chased the loser out. I, of course, am hoping Skyler won out and chased the home invader out - but I have no way to tell.
The last bit of the drama occurred when the loser returned with her male. (Can you believe that?) They sat on top and loudly tried to intimidate whoever was inside for quite a while. Eventually the female went back in, but she was quickly kicked out this time. For several hours after that the pair just swam back and forth in front of the duck house, just waiting I imagine. The female inside stayed put.
By the afternoon, the female was ready to leave. I watched her just sit in the doorway looking out forever before she decided it was safe to exit. I wish I knew who won.
After she left I went down to count the eggs. (If I know when she is done laying, I'll know when to watch for them to hatch.) There were 11 eggs, which is consistent with one a day - meaning that both ducks did not lay an egg in the nest. We'll have to see how this plays out!
I have had a very busy year, and taken time off from writing this blog. I've been posting more tidbits on Facebook and Instagram lately and even taken to selling a few things on Etsy! But it is Spring again, and I simply must revisit the wood ducks.
Last Spring when I chronicled Skyler and her nest of eggs, you might recall that I spied on her by taking photos with my iPhone. While that worked, it was highly intrusive and she did NOT like it, often hissing at me. This year I decided to take a higher tech route. I picked up a video baby monitor on Craigslist and had my husband install it inside the duck house. It's almost perfect. It has night vision, sound and a movable camera so I can adjust the view from inside my house. The only downside is that I've yet to figure out how to record the video for sharing. There is an a/v port - I just don't know what to do with it yet. So when I share with you, you will get a video of a video. Sorry about that.
This Spring in Minnesota, the weather has been exceptionally nice, earlier than normal. Because of that, Skyler* was in the duck house sooner than I expected. She's likely been there more than a week, laying one egg a day - almost a month earlier than last year. Last season there were 21 eggs, resulting in 17 ducklings (See here: It's a full nest! to learn about the "compound nest".) I don't remember seeing wood ducks at all in our pond a few years ago. In 2015, there were a couple and this year there are at least a dozen - so I guess the babies came back!
In an ordinary year, a wood duck will lay around a dozen eggs. After today, Skyler should be at ten. I'll need to count each day after she leaves the nest so I can determine the hatch date - around 30 days after the last egg is laid. Isn't that amazing? All the eggs will hatch at the same time - around 30 days after the last one was laid. So some eggs will be much older than the others, yet they all hatch together! God is so amazing. The mother duck can't lay more than one egg a day and she wouldn't be able to care for them if they all hatched on different days for two weeks. So they all hatch on the same day. Wow.
While we wait on the hatching, here are some pictures and videos for you to watch. If anything interesting happens, I'll update you. Enjoy.
(And if you know how to record video from a baby monitor, let me know!)
* Last year I named the mama duck Skyler as my husband and I were in the midst of watching Breaking Bad... and it just sounded like a good bird name. I don't know that this is the same duck as last year - but I'm going to assume it is, because it doesn't really matter anyway.
On the first day that I noticed happenings in the
duck house - there were 8 eggs. Aren't they pretty?
My baby monitor spy cam, mounted inside the duck house.
Skyler, with night vision.
Skyler with a little color in the daytime,
as seen from our new baby monitor.
The camera adjusted to watch outside the duck house opening,
watching for Skyler to return. My husband calls this "Duck TV".
I caught a few of the adults swimming by yesterday.
Just hanging out on the eggs. About 10 seconds before
the end of the video, you can here her clucking.
Skyler is busy adjusting her eggs and fluffing up the nest.
