Through the magic of a Ring doorbell camera, we are watching the wood duck nestbox in our backyard on the bayou. During the months of March and April, we had a reliable wood duck hen sitting on a clutch of 14 eggs. On April 15th, 13 ducklings, barely 24 hours old, jumped out of the nestbox into the bayou. And off they went.
We’ve had a wet spring, so the bayou has been high. My husband pulled a canoe up to the nestbox, tied it there, and climbed a stepladder to clean out the nestbox. The next day we had shoppers, new wood duck couples swimming by, poking around.
We thought we had a new hen sitting. Day by day a hen would fly into the house and lay an egg. She seemed to start the incubation a week ago; however, her sitting was erratic. There one day, gone the next.
A few days ago, I noticed a larger, louder duck inside the wood duck house. Invaders! Squatters! Thieves! The ducks were what we call Mexican Squealers or Black-bellied whistling ducks. This duck is larger, with a bright orange bill, long legs, and a loud squeal. Two of them. How did they get in? Why? Did they lay an egg? It was actually hilarious to watch these ducks try to get back out of the house. Lots of noisy squealing and legs scrambling.
Since this incident, the hen has come back and settled in. She doesn’t leave as often and for as long. Maybe we can start counting days. We’ll see. Nature is not predictable. Even an innocent nestbox is not always peaceful.
You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@margaretgsimon) for updates on the wood duck house. On Twitter during May I am posting #poemsofpresence. Here’s the poem-of-the-day for Monday.
Rainy grey Monday,
Margaret Simon, #poemsofpresence
Watching new wood duck tenant
nestle for sitting.
Reflections on the Teche 
Those black-bellied whistling ducks are stunning. It is so cool that we have the technology to have your own nestbox webcam.
Margaret, I’m loving getting to see the bayou from your back yard. I’m learning so much. That is fascinating that the 13 duckling just a day old could go and jump into the water like they did. Thanks for sharing!
This was fascinating to read, yet being an avid canoer, I am wondering…he didn’t stand on the ladder in the canoe, did he?
Yes. But it was stable in the mud and tethered to the house.
Knowing how much the canoe wobbles in the water, I was wondering, but I think I can imagine how he accomplished that, now. 🙂
How delightful to have ducklings; swimming at 24 hours is amazing. Your backyard experience seems like it would make a good children’s book. Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed reading about the ducks and their antics on your bayou. Especially appreciated your poem. Living on the water allows for such great nature watching!
Margaret, what a neat experience to have, and how fantastic to use technology to get up close and personal with your fowl friends. Nature, indeed, is not predictable, and it’s never boring. I’m looking forward to the updates!
So enchanting, Margaret. Made my heart happy that the invaders left and that the hen settled back in…
A found golden shovel in her honor:
From morn until even
she is preparing an
assurance for life to come, innocent
and new, in her nestbox
from which she is
never far, fearing not
to claim her domain, always
patient, persevering, peaceful.
What a gift! I’ve printed it to save in my journal. The mother hen is patient and persevering and peaceful this week I was worried we had an inexperienced juvenile mother. Thank you so much for the golden shovel.