3 Minutes in the Lives of 12 Wood Ducklings (and 2 Mothers)

The whole episode I'm going to tell you about actually took slightly less than 3 minutes, but they were exciting minutes!

I'm not sure who was more excited-- the mother Wood Duck or me.  

Let me tell you the story...

It was a beautiful evening on Friday, so I decided to take a walk along the path by the swamp.   The past few days, I'd had a couple of quick sightings of ducklings.  This time, I thought I'd be ready... just in case I happened to see any more.  I carried my camera (and it was turned on and the lens cap was off).  I was prepared.  

I was scanning the water.  Watching the distant water, mostly.  Not expecting a mother Wood Duck and her 12 babies to be feeding right along the bank.  Not expecting her not to hear me approach.  You get the picture.

I got a lot of pictures, too, but the first few didn't turn out very well because I was so excited, I took them with a tree branch between me and the ducks.

The duck family had been peacefully feeding in a little cove along the edge of the swamp.

Mother duck went into immediate emergency mode when she realized I was close by.  The ducklings did, too.  They started swimming away as fast as they could.

They were making bubbles in the water, they were paddling so fast.  But that was nothing compared to the splashing their Mama was making!

She was doing her best to create a distraction - so that whatever danger lurked in the form of the person on the shore, it would go after her and not her babies.  If only she could have known that I was another mother who would certainly never hurt them.  

Indeed, I stood very still (after I moved a couple of steps so the tree branch was no longer in the photos) and tried not to scare her anymore than she already was.

The ducklings quickly made it to a sheltered spot.

 First they all disappeared momentarily behind this clump of grass.

They kept swimming... and for a little while they were out in the open again.

Their next hiding place left a bit to be desired-- I can still see you!

Finally, they seemed to get the idea that they should go back in the thicker, taller grass to hide.  This meant swimming thru the open water again, but just for a little bit.

By this time, the mother Wood Duck had calmed down quite a bit.  All her babies were safe, right?  That's her in the lower left of the next photo, and the babies are at the top right.

There they all were, heading for safety, towards the back of the swamp.  Or were they?  One baby seems to have a mind of his own.

How did the mother know this one was not with the others?  None of them had made a sound (at least since all the splashing had stopped)!

Perhaps, like human mothers, Wood Duck mothers have eyes in the back of their heads? 

All's well that ends well, and this brief encounter between 12 ducklings, their mother, and I, ended just fine.  The stray duckling got the message somehow that he'd better hurry up and join the rest of the family.

Even though he seems to be heading slightly in the wrong direction in this photo, he made it back with the others by taking a turn at the last minute.

Where all the churning water had been only 2 minutes and 40 seconds before (the time elapsed on my photos from the first one of the duck family to the last), was back to peace and tranquility.

Two Crying Ducklings

This is a tale of two ducklings.  Both crying, but for different reasons!

Early one morning, I set out to visit one of my favorite places - a place where there is a sort-of comfortable stump to sit on with a good view of the swamp.  I don't think I've ever found a completely comfortable stump but this one isn't bad and besides that, it's the view that really counts.  I had barely settled in when I heard a cry.  A poor little mallard duckling had lost her mama.

In just a few moments, the crying baby was happy to be reunited with her.

Soon they were swimming off together with the rest of the family.

Meanwhile, I sat quietly... waiting to see what might happen next.  I didn't have long to wait before I spied another family.  At first they were a long ways off, but they were headed my direction.

Mama wood duck was crossing the open water with her large brood of ducklings, but she was keeping them close - all without making a sound.

Once they reached the edge of the swamp, where they were more concealed in the vegetation, they all began to eat.

While they were busy eating, they continued getting closer and closer to me.

Mama kept close watch over her children, while she also took time now and then to eat something.

What a busy mother... with 10 ducklings!

At one point in their journey along the edge of the swamp, they had to crossed over a log.  It was funny to see the babies follow right along doing what their mother was doing.

Eventually all 10 were on the other side.

What a good mother!

They were really close to me now -- I'd say about 20 feet away.  It actually became hard to photograph them because of the low vegetation between them and me.  I slowly stood up, but they still didn't notice me.  They were mostly concentrating on breakfast, I guess, and not expecting anyone to be there.

The early morning sun was now hitting the water and making all the algae sparkle.  I like this photo even though it's not the best of the ducks, because it has a rather dreamy look.  It was a little dreamy to have this close up encounter with this wood duck family!  I knew it was going to end at some point, but I was enjoying every moment.

Finally the end did come.... when one of the little ducklings noticed me and set off an alarm!

I was amazed at how quickly they all disappeared!

I looked at my watch and saw I had been privileged to watch this beautiful family for almost 20 minutes!  What a blessing!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing them, too.

Better than Saturday morning Cartoons

The beaver swamp was filled with action this morning.  First thing that caught my attention were the Wood Ducks.  We've had a few days that have been above freezing recently, so there is some water again.

We saw the first pair of Wood Ducks on March 27th.  This is a photo from this morning, of a drake on the left and a hen on the right. 

This morning, I counted nine wood ducks all together!  First though, the group I was watching across from our house had 5 drakes and one hen!  Not a good ratio.  As you could imagine, there was some action between the drakes, as you can see in the next two short videos.  

There are Red-winged Blackbirds singing, and Canada geese honking in the background of this one:

 

In the next one, Red-winged Blackbirds are calling "Oka-lee" and there is a Song Sparrow singing, and one of the Wood Ducks chases another:

Now that you've heard some of the other birds of the swamp, here's one with the Wood Ducks calling:

The Wood Ducks all swam toward the other end of the swamp, and a short time later, back they came.  This time, there were 3 pairs of drakes and hens, and only one lone male.  Phew!  That's a better ratio!

My attention was so focused on the Wood Ducks, that until I saw it in one of my videos, I did not notice another little duck.  I went back out and watched for it again, and luckily, this Green-winged Teal was still there.

That's not a great photo, but it's the best one I got, and is good enough to identify it by its' white band on the side and rump patch, plus its' dark rufous head with the green eye band.  It doesn't show up as green in the photo, but in my new binoculars, it was quite clear and pretty! (Thanks, F)

Just as I didn't notice the teal right away while I was watching the flamboyant Wood Ducks, these other ducks were kind of hard to see:

There are two ducks in that photo.  The one on the right is pretty easy to see, but the one to the left has its' head under the water.  Here's a slightly better shot:

And, now you can see him!

How about those orange legs and greenish-yellow bill!  Looks like a pair of American Black Ducks, which would be a first-time sighting on our swamp.

Another thing I got rather excited about this morning was this:

 A Great-Blue Heron sat atop the 'nest tree' where we had a pair of herons raise a family during the summer of 2012.  If you didn't read about it before, here's a link to my blog post about that.  I didn't go too close, because I didn't want to scare it away.  It stayed there for maybe 10 minutes, meanwhile a goose strolled along below the heron tree.  I hope the herons don't mind noisy neighbors.  I would love to have another "heron summer".

If you look closely, you can see the heron nest in the tree right behind the goose, and the heron sitting on top.  In case you have trouble picking them out, here they are:

I'm sure you can see the silly goose!

Dr. Ruby and the Rain

Ruby and I were poking along on our walk yesterday.  It was hot and humid, and there were a lot of things to sniff out, so we weren't in a hurry-- at least in the beginning.

 Most of the time, Ruby stays on the path, but sometimes she just can't resist following a scent thru the taller grass.  She can't SEE much, but the smells are enticing I guess!

Ox-Eye Daisies are very pretty, and we'll forgive them for not being native.  Mrs. William Starr Dana wrote in her book, 'How to Know the Wildflowers', first published in 1893, that the name Daisy came from the true daisy of England (Bellis perennis).  Its flowers opened in the morning and closed at night so it was called the "day's eye".  Our Ox-Eye Daisy is actually in the Chrysanthemum family and doesn't open and close with the sun... but I still like the name "Day's Eye".   Mrs. Dana gives another common name... she says in Scotland they are called "Dog-Daisy".  Ruby likes that one!

Ruby is a good girl and knows "Please don't eat the Daisies", however she does like her veggies, so she chews on some grass.

 Like I said, it's hot, so Ruby and I head towards home and to the little creek.

She cools off (at least her feet and the bottoms of her ears)!
Then I tell her we'd better head back to the house because there are storm clouds coming.

We barely get inside before the wind picks up and the rain starts.
It gets darker and darker.

"I don't mind, I'm ready for a nap anyway!"

But what do the other animals do in the rain?

The red-winged blackbirds don't seem to mind it, and they keep coming to eat sunflower seeds... although they do have to stop and shake every once and awhile!

This poor male oriole sits and waits for me to refill the grape jelly feeder.  I will as soon as the rain lets up a little!

Not yet!
This oriole eats from the orange in the rain...

It, too, gives a shake every little bit.

Finally the rain lets up and I go out and put some jelly in the feeder.  The birds quickly line up to eat, looking rather damp.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This morning, there are almost 3 1/2 inches of rain in our gauge.

The little creek is gushing.  I don't think Ruby would like it today.

This morning the swamp is filling up with brown run-off.

But through the rain and the mud, the animals keep on with life... the baby wood ducks are getting bigger.

The bunnies are, too.  This one better be careful though.  The puddles in the road are not a good place to play!

Good, little bunny.... run away!