A month ago, I posted about the mallard duck pair that hangs out in my yard every spring, but that doesn’t seem to nest here. Well, guess what I just saw? The female is sitting on a nest underneath one of the day lillies in my front garden plot. Cool!
I wonder how long she’s been there? I did notice her in the yard last week while the workers were here, and I was puzzled as to why she wasn’t flying away, but instead hung around in spite of the chaos. I hope she was able to properly incubate during that time so the eggs still hatch. This also explains why I saw her lounging around in the yard about ten feet from the nest a couple of weeks ago, and why I also saw the male in the vicinity this morning. I don’t usually see them this time of year.
One of my joys in life is walking around that front garden and contemplating the flowers. I guess I won’t be doing that until she’s done with the nest. I don’t want her to feel alarmed by my presence, and I left as soon as I noticed her. Maybe I’ll use my telephoto lens and get a quick picture of her from the street or something so I can post it. People and cars go by all the time, so she must be okay with it or she wouldn’t have chosen that location.
I’m so excited! I hope I get to see the ducklings, although my earlier reading says she’ll lead them away from here to water once they hatch. I just hope none of the neighborhood cats get her. There’s nothing I can think of to protect her from them. One thing I know is that it’s generally better to leave wild animals alone to take care of themselves, however, so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed and give her privacy to do her thing.
I’m still hearing the chimney swifts in my chimney, so all is well on that front, as well.
Edited to add a picture of Mama Duck on her nest:
Don’t look at me! Don’t look at me! I’m hiding!