We have a camera in the nest box which links with our television so that we are able to watch what is going on inside the nest. This morning when I turned on 'duck TV' madam was already in the box and resting comfortably. Today she wasn't attacked by a rival male mallard so she had time to make herself comfortable although there was a fair amount of shifting around and rolling of the eggs.
Our mallard viewed through the TV
Over the years we have seen quite a few ducks nest in our boxes and helped them, when necessary, to launch their ducklings when they nest on the garden deck. Normally we only see what goes on from the outside looking in so it is fascinating to watch the duck from the inside of the nest. I was surprised at how restless she was for the hour that I watched her this morning, stretching her neck outside the box on a regular basis.
One of the eggs is exposed for a while
The girl prepares to leave the box
After carefully covering all 5 eggs our girl starts to head out of the box. She came round to the plank for a quick breakfast of wheat and then was joined by her drake.
Today was partly sunny in the morning but has clouded over now and the breeze is picking up. Apparently gale force winds are forecast for tonight and possibly part of tomorrow in the south. Fortunately, though, it has only drizzled a little and we haven't had the monsoon like downpours of yesterday.
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