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Living on the Bayou Teche has many benefits. In the fall we joined the T.E.C.H.E. Project, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the Bayou Teche. In January, my husband Jeff attended one of their workshops on wood duck houses. When he came home and started talking about it, I knew this was something we needed to do. But the idea brewed for a while until I got a text from a friend who lives downstream. She had set up a Ring camera in her wood duck house and a hen had come in. She sent me the video, and I was sold.
The next day we toured her wood duck set up, and Jeff said, “We can do this!” He found the wood he needed and got to work. We took a trip to Costco to buy the Ring device. It’s intended for use as a doorbell. So genius! It connects through your Wifi and sends motion detection with video to your phone. What will they think of next?!
This weekend Jeff finished the house and got the pole in the ground. We set up the Ring device and had it all ready by 4:00 PM on Sunday.
On Monday morning while I was hurriedly getting ready for school (I always run late on Monday!), I got an alert on my phone, “Movement detected at the wood duck house!” Already!
Sure enough, a hen had come inside and posed for the camera. When we looked outside, though, we noticed Buzz, our outside cat guarding with watchful eye. “On Jump Day, Buzz will be in the shed,” Jeff said. Jump Day happens on the day after the eggs hatch. All the little ducks jump out to the water. I’m so glad we invested in the camera, so we can keep an eye on this whole process.
Buzz keeps an eye on the wood ducks.
Reflections on the Teche 
I love this story and pictures. I have to tell you that your pictures and stories have gotten me through a long, long, snowy winter in NE Iowa. We have had 12 snow days since Jan 18. The last was a blizzard over this past weekend. Some days, I go to your FB page and just look at your nature pictures and dream of spring.
Aw, so sorry for your constant snow. We never have snow so I look at your pictures and dream of snow.
I love this idea and watching this whole process will be so much fun! Just curious about how long it will take the eggs to hatch. We had a wood duck get into our fireplace once. We have had birds fly down, but never a wood duck!
They lay one egg a day for a while. The eggs do not incubate until the hen sits on them. Then it’s 29 days to hatching.
I am so excited for you! I’m going to go home and talk to my husband. I need something similar in my life!!! Maybe a bluebird house?? I can’t wait to follow along with all the photos and action. Also, this was brilliantly timed–you’ll have so much to slice about!
Look at how high that house is! She already had to jump to get in there – I can’t imagine the ducklings jumping out… but I’m already excited about it. Will you promise to share pictures? A duck house… I love it.
I just shared this post and the pictures with Randy. We are both so fascinated! If we lived there by you, I know those boys would be having a great time constructing wood duck houses! 🦆
[…] The wood ducks have laid 5 eggs in the wood duck house. I wrote about setting up the house on this slice. […]
[…] I’ve been posting updates to my Instagram and Facebook accounts. I wrote the first post about the house here. […]
[…] Some of you have been following our wood duck house story. In late February, my husband built a wood duck house and set it up near the bayou. We put a Ring doorbell camera inside to capture the whole process. We were amazed when a hen came in the very next day. It took her a few weeks to lay the eggs and begin sitting on them. I wrote about it here and here. […]