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| We woke to this, Saturday, April 1st! |
Thankfully, I took the time on Thursday, March 30th, to do this project.
This is the time of year to clean up and clean out the wood duck boxes. Hubby and Annabelle came down to supervise. You can see her on the dock!
I have three wood duck nesting boxes, now. I had varied success last year, although one box had one unviable egg in it, which I didn't notice until last fall.
There were three issues.1) Nest #1 was abandoned, the eggs were eaten.
2) Nest #2 didn't have any eggs.
3) Good folks on the nearby lake put out several nesting boxes.
We shall see!
I cleaned out the boxes, put in fresh wood shavings, and we'll hope for the best! First thing, the frog pond has to melt. We had 7 cm snow Friday/Saturday last week. It bodes well for spring, for the frogs to lay eggs, maybe the muskrats will return, too!
The first sign will be the downy feathers with which they line the nests.
My bruised knee is a bit better, I went to physio Thursday! And my only incident this day was a splinter. For this, I be grateful!
This, of course, is what I shall hope for: boxes full of downy feathers. The anticipation of Spring makes it greater when it arrives! The issue in our area is the lack of nests. The trees are falling down, and they have nested in those in the past. Hence, locals put up nesting boxes.
They are incredibly shy birds. I think I scared the one off the nesting box last year. I'm feeling somewhat guilty for that. I didn't realize she was in there. Lesson learned. I'll use my snake scope.
12 comments:
I hope you have some success this year.
Hari OM
OOoh duck time already? Here's hoping for a productive season! Crikey though... if you've had snow, it means we'll get another bout of the cold stuff yet; today, though, 'tis lovely at 13'C!!! Am over in Edinburgh this week - art shows and harp festival to attend. Culture, y'ken, is seasoning to the soul &*> Meanwhile am getting dad into the Curling... YAM xx
I have a somewhat similar cap like yours and I like it a lot.Two months ago I lost it at Ikea. I didn't give up: phoned to custom service, wrote to the manager, etc..After 17 days they called me to come get it. I hate to loose things, regardless of their money value. In this case I was also frustrated by the passive attitude of the security and cleaning people, and I felt I had to teach them a constructive lesson.
Maybe that last snow fall was just an April 1st Fool's joke for you all. Feathers, down here I marvel when I find a nest on the ground, woven so beautifully, maybe even a little mud to strengthen, and then the softest feathers as the final lining. What more could a little fledgling want.
I'm SO happy we just had a dusting the other day.
Sorry about the snow and to hear of your bruised knee but glad it's improving. Onward with your spring prep!
Well lets hope you will soon be enjoying more warmer Spring-like weather soon.
Pleased to read your bruised knee is a little better
Take care
All the best Jan
I heard you received snow! How awful. We received maybe 16 snowflakes early Saturday morning and thankfully that was it.
Looking forward to seeing if anyone uses your nesting boxes!
Robin
I hope the nesting boxes have residents this spring.
Seven centimeters of snow? We don't like it but it's not unusual for spring.
Lovely wintry shots ~ We got a storm but more rain than snow ~ Ready for Spring ~ thanks,
Wishing you a lovely week ~ ^_^
Easter is coming but I don't think anyone told the weather. - Margy
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