Before I read that wood duck boxes should be out of sight of each other, I had nine boxes on the south side of my pond spaced seventy feet apart. Doesn't seem to be a problem and there has been no dumping.
After hatch out, the ducks don't stay in the pond but head off into the woods. Actually, the only time I see the ducks is when they're selecting the nesting box, during the laying time, and as hatchout approaches. I saw multiple pairs scouting the area yesterday.
I clean the boxes each December. It's incredibly messy in the boxes with egg shells, eggs that failed to hatch, and wet wood shavings full of very tiny bugs. No self-respecting duck would nest in a box that hasn't been cleaned.
Last year, I put up four nesting boxes for a few black-bellied whistling ducks that had been frequenting the pond, the boxes being a little larger than wood duck boxes and with a five inch opening. I had been seeing them for a year and, thinking they had been attracted by the wood duck boxes, decided to put up boxes accommodating their larger size. A few weeks after the boxes were up, the whistling ducks left and haven't been back, which is unfortunate because, unlike woodies, the whistling ducks stayed in and around the pond and even came close to the camp. The woodies will probably take over those boxes as well as their own nine.
