For years now, we have watched nesting in the wood duck house my husband built for the bayou bank. This time of year beginning in late February a female hen comes to the box to lay a clutch of eggs.
We invested in a Ring doorbell camera, not to watch for criminal activity, but to see the comings and goings of a resident wood duck hen.
These days my phone alerts me constantly. “There is motion at the wood duck house.”
The eggs are due at the end of the month. She usually sits for 28-31 days. We had a cool snap, so I’m worried that all the eggs won’t hatch. But that is the nature of nature, right?
Once the eggs hatch, all on the same day, the little ones will jump from the house 24 hours later. It is a wonder to watch. A few years ago we caught it on video.
Last year I released a small chapbook of poems about the wood duck nesting season, Wood Duck Diary. The funds from the sales benefit the Teche Project. This is a book of tanka poems in English and in French.
March 11
Feathering the Clutch
Hen stitches feathers
one by one. Woven blanket
clutch-cover of down.
Her beak a knitting needle.
Eggs safe and snug below.
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, I will never forget that year you recorded the babies jumping, and then there was that one little one that had trouble figuring it all out and was scrambling around to join his family. How precious! And I had no idea about the chapbook but what a sweet topic! I know the videos are bringing you joy to watch them grow and get ready to face the world. Nothing like jumping into life.
This is so fun! The camera catching the action, the poems catching the natural phenomenon and the proceeds benefitting a project you are passionate about. Well done! Thanks for including the pictures and video!
I love your wood duck posts! I remember watching your Jump Day video. What a wonderful place to watch nature grow and change.
This is so exciting! I love the poetry, and the camera and the book funding the project!
What a wonderful thing to be able to observe up close! The peregrine falcons who nest in the building behind my office are back and will probably lay the first egg this week. It’s very exciting!