Amy, the duck nesting on a ledge at Regenstein library, now has an upgraded cam and a new website. It’s worth watching her, as all kinds of stuff can be seen. For example:
a. Two days ago, someone saw a squirrel encounter the duck, supposedly trying to steal an egg (I don’t think it’s possible for a squirrel to run off with a duck egg). The duck pecked it, and the squirrel DIVED UNDERNEATH THE DUCK, so that the duck was plopped down on a belly-up squirrel. Apparently the squirrel ran off.
b. Someone saw at least five eggs in the nest. That means there are more buried in the leaves and feathers.
c. Yesterday someone watched her fly off for about 1.5 hours (they do this every few days for a drink and a bath). She probably went to a nearby pond or lake. But before leaving the nest, she carefully covered up all the eggs with her bill. This not only keeps them warm, but hides them from potential predators. When she returned, she shuffled the leaf-father covering off the eggs, but using her feet.
If you click the picture below, you can go to the new duckcam. Say hi to Amy! Right now the sun is on the nest, so it’s not all that easy to see. At other times she’s clear as a bell. And you might get to see her cover or uncover her eggs. (She also turns them from time to time to ensure even incubation.)
Be sure to click the triangle to start the video (you can also scroll backwards). There may be an annoying buzz that you’ll have to silence by muting the screen.
She’s always futzing with her nest, too.
Thank you, lovely post. Is she thirsty? Her break is open and quivering.
The squirrel may beg to differ …
It may just have been optimistic.
Is there any observational evidence of squirrels eating opportunistic broken eggs – fell out of a nest, maybe – whereby they could put “egg” into the category “good to eat”?