TyW33, I guess the eggs in the middle of the egg mass could stay fertile out of the water for awhile. They could stay moist. Now, I have never paid much attention to ducks feet and most long billed birds around my stock tank, I generally view only through my rear sight. Also, some fish, I think the word is pelagic, drop their eggs in moving water and some hatch.
However, members of the sunfish family, including LMB, require work by the parent. The male selects a nesting site where sunlight can penetrate. After laying, the male fertilizes the eggs and guards them from ever present, hungry predators. Ever watch that? I'm surprised that the "perch" don't get them all. The male also fans the nest to aerate and keep debris from settling on them. When the fry finally hatch, the male still protects them until they leave the nest. Now, since everything in the water eats everything smaller, they are now a target that dad doesn't protect. The odds, even at this point are pretty lousy on ever becoming a mature fish. With the exception of the sunlit nest, catfish do the same thing. I guess it is possible that an egg mass carried thru the air and randomly deposited in water could stay viable and hatch on its own but the odds should be astronomical. Talk to the guys at a state fish hatchery about how carefully they have to monitor conditions just to get a hatch under controlled conditions. And they have all of the resources to make it happen.
Like I said, it is possible but the odds make it highly improbable. But then, I still play the Lotto sometimes. Anything is possible.
