Ducklings Hatch in My Long Grove Yard!

Last week I wrote about the robins’ nests in my yard and gave a few tips on how to attract birds to your yard. I can’t tell you how to cause a duck to lay eggs in your yard, but I was so enthralled with the mama duck in my yard that I just had to share the story and pictures!

Rarely do we use our front door so it may have been a while before I spotted the duck nest. Located behind a whiskey barrel and protected from the wind by the house, a brave mama duck built her nest in the bark. It was hard to see – she was very good at camouflage. Each day after discovering it, we would look out there to be sure she had survived any area predators. Happily, she did. Although we were sure that our sweet dog Quincy wouldn’t bother her, we thought that he may be curious and accidentally disturb them. He never even noticed!

It takes about 28 days for duck eggs to hatch. Once hatching begins, all the eggs will hatch within 24 hours. I searched the internet to see how long they might remain in the nest after hatching. Reports varied from 6 hours to 24 hours. How was I ever going to see them? As it turned out, I was lucky enough to be home on hatching day.

Each time I would come near the nest to take pictures, Mama Duck would hustle her brood back into the nest and sit on it. I was so tempted to pick one up to hold the fuzzy little body just for a minute. Before I foolishly did so, I remembered that my son Michael tried that once at a lake in Michigan and it didn’t turn out well! I had to be satisfied with the pictures.

Periodically (about every 15 minutes!) I would check the nest to see if they were still there. I realized that I was really bothering them so I tried to stay away. Of course, I missed the voyage. My husband came in to tell me that my duck mom was taking her babies to the water. I grabbed my camera and ran down to the pond for their first swim. There were 11 ducklings! No wonder they can’t stay in the nest very long.

Last weekend the ducklings came to feast at the bird feeder. Wow, are they big! My husband reminds me that these cute babies that I love right now are the same ones that I will complain about next spring when they are quacking at 4:30 am. Ah, the circle of life.