Duck report!!!

It’s time for a duck report.  Things have been erratic, duckwise, over the last couple of weeks, with the weather going nuts. On some days it’s been 70°F (21°C), on others it’s been below freezing, with snow or driving rain.  Through it all the ducks have been here, though in the last week or so Vashti makes only sporadic appearances.

Usually Vashti (the hen) has been absent in the mornings, leaving Armon (the drake) to sit disconsolately on the rocks, staring into space. It’s clear he wants to be with his boo, and only Ceiling Cat knows where she goes.  I suspect she’s building a nest somewhere and perhaps laying eggs (1 per day until they’re all laid).  But she can’t be incubating eggs yet, as she returns in the afternoon for hours, much to the delight of Armon, who begins eating again. This is a true duck romance.

It’s a bit early to incubate eggs, as the weather in April may be cold and rainy for ducklings. But I can’t control wild birds.

The breeding goes like this. First, Vashti will build a nest. They’ve almost always been on the window ledges of the building to the east of Botany Pond (Erman Hall), but I see no nest there, and if she were breeding there Armon would be in the water under the nest. Nor is she nesting under the tree where Esther nested last year. I have no idea where the nest is, and of course I can’t follow her.

As I said, hens lay one egg per day, but don’t start incubation until all the eggs are laid, whereupon she sits tight on the entire clutch, ensuring that all the embryos begin development at the same time and that they will hatch within a day of each other. The incubation period is 28 or 29 days, so when Vashti disappears, I begin the countdown. (I’ve already ordered a big stock of duckling food.)  During incubation she may come to the pond every day or so for a very short period to have a bath and a feed (if I’m lucky enough to see her). But she won’t leave the eggs for very long.

During incubation, wild mallards can lose up to 30% of their body weight as they neither eat nor drink.  Vashti, though, is pampered and can get fed during incubation. My intention is to feed her up so she has plenty of mass and energy to incubate the eggs, and, when she begins incubation, to watch the pond from my office to run down and feed her if she makes a short appearance. This will ensure that when the babies arrive, mom will be in good condition to tend them. That worked well for Esther last year, though she nested on the ground under a tree.

But I’m jumping the gun. Here are some photos and video I took over the last couple of weeks. Since the weather has been miserable, the sunny-day photos were all taken about the middle of March when it was warm.

Here’s a panorama of Botany Pond. Can you spot the pair? The answer is at the bottom.  Erman is the building to the left, and you can see the two pond-watching benches. There is a narrow channel of water behind where I stood to take this photo.

Armon and Vashti having luncheon:

Their main diet is Mazuri Waterfowl Chow, which provides a complete diet for ducks. New ducks usually must learn that what I throw them is what they should eat. (At first they are frightened.) But this pair learned quickly, which made me suspect that they are familiar with Botany Pond and the feeding ritual. Perhaps they were here in previous years, and one or both of them may be the offspring of Esther and Mordecai from last year. I whistle to them at feeding time, and they swim to me when they hear me or see me (they knew this from the outset). This again constitutes evidence that these ducks are familiar with Botany Pond.

Here’s a video of them having noms (Mazuri pellets):

After the pellets they get dessert: freeze-dried mealworms, their favorite. Mealworms are pricey but I don’t stint on them at this stage, since Vashti needs to be fattened up, and mealworms are a good source of protein.

Butt view of the pair swimming away:

Mallards on the rocks (a good name for a drink):

They are a handsome couple, no?

Lately they have actually been coming out of the water to greet me when I call. But I let them go back into the pond before I feed them, as they need to sip water during and between bouts of eating pellets and mealworms:

One day I watched Vashti foraging on the ground after lunch.  I have no idea what she’s finding to eat in all the dirt and mulch, but she was very busy and clearly finding noms. Worms, slugs, whatever:

Here’s a video of Vashti foraging on the ground. Armon is of course nearby (they are never separated by more than a couple of feet when they’re in the water). Armon peeks over the ledge to see that his hen is okay. Notice her full crop!

And, ladies and gentlemen, comrades, brothers and sisters, here is Vasthi in all her mallardly glory. She’s pretty plump, which is how I want her when she starts incubating her eggs:

And we can’t neglect the handsome Armon, all decked out in his breeding plumage:

I will of course keep you updated, though I wish I knew where the nest was!

Finally, here are the ducks in the pond panorama, circled: