Got to spend some time at the pond over the weekend, was keeping an eye out for otters but saw no signs of activity, the fish are swarming feed.
Was super elated to see a lot of wood duck activity and seen two different hens enter two different nest boxes that I put out 2 yrs ago with no success up to this point, The one nest had a hen in it and a stupid starling trying to enter it to build a nest, they waited till the hen left then went back to going in and out with nesting materials, so not sure how that's going to turn out, there is a duck egg in the nest because I stuck my phone up to the hole and snapped a picture, don't know if the starlings will run the duck off or not. I did take a crack at the starling with the 17 when the ducks weren't around and think might have clipped it, the burned out and I didn't see them again for the time I was able to hang around.
Also Had a huge bald Eagle hanging out yesterday morning.
The hen wood duck should return every morning for the next 10-12 days and add one egg per day. You'll know she's in there because the drake will 'hang around' in the vicinity of the box. (? holding her purse). They usually only take 5-10 minutes and then leave again, usually not to be seen again till the next day. Sometimes starlings try to take over a box, and I discourage them with my pellet rifle or .22 magnum. Once she's started laying, she'd be hard to keep from coming back. So once she's added an egg and left, the starlings are fair game the rest of the day. I have found starlings sometimes peck duck eggs to crack them, so if you can, check the box when she's gone and remove any cracked eggs. The get pretty ripe after a few weeks of incubation.
Here's hoping for a hatch this year! *fingers crossed*
"Politics": derived from 'poly' meaning many, and 'tics' meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.
