When I was out looking for duck eggs around the pond a few days ago, I spied this lady tucked under a honeysuckle bush.

She’s pulled hay off the nearby compost pile, made a nest there and appears to be sitting on it. How exciting would it be if she hatches some babies??!

We’ve only had a duck successfully hatch babies once, several years ago. It was so fun to watch her lead the little yellow fuzz balls down to swim their first day of life.

This was before we had our fencing and the birds freely roamed our whole property. Mamma made her nest in the flower bed at the front of the house, under my hollyhocks.

Each evening she would hightail it down to the coop to eat and drink and to the pond for a quick dip, then race back onto her nest. She was a good mamma, which is unusual for Pekins.

This was a funny memory – read the caption below the picture.

Sometimes her male partner would even join them for family swims.

The two babies she hatched did manage to hang around long enough to feather out but unfortunately neither made it to adulthood. Coyotes or raccoons got them after about a month. With the fencing, though, we’ve only lost one duck (knock on wood) in more than two years. So I think babies would have a better chance now.

We’ll have to watch and see if she stays with it and incubates those eggs!