Yes, we’re back on the wood ducks again, but let’s be real – they’re the coolest birds and right here on the property; not even god is gonna blame me for posting about them *
Anyway, after doing the nighttime photos of the mother and ducklings on Turtle Island, I kept watching for them, getting some more shots and then, one evening, spotting the mother just after sunset, realizing that she’d come onto the island while it was still light enough to see. That’s all the encouragement that I need.
There’s a significant difference in the perspectives, naturally, because the night stills done with the flash meant that I was approaching with the spotlight of the headlamp trained on her, preventing her from seeing me (unless I turned around and silhouetted myself against the light falling on the yard,) as long as I approached as stealthily as possible. But while it was still twilight, she could see me easily and so I had to work at a much greater distance from up on the back deck, which did admittedly allow a better view through the pond plants. We’re talking a difference of six or seven meters versus thirty-five though.
Since this video, I’ve tried three more times but they haven’t showed, so whether momma’s found a quieter nighttime roost or is simply cycling her spots around to avoid creating a pattern that predators might figure out, I can’t say, though I’ll keep watching. This pond really is a great spot for them, since it’s too shallow to have largemouth bass or snapping turtles, both significant predators of ducklings, and close enough to the house to discourage foxes a little, and simply chock-full of both food sources and great hiding places, especially with those huge leaves now.
While the Canada geese and mallards are reasonably habituated to us, the wood ducks remain quite wary – the most progress we’ve made is that they only scoot over into thicker cover when we show ourselves out back, though incautious moves will still send them flying down to The Bayou for safety. One pair is semi-mellow and occasionally hangs around in sight, like on the evening that I shot the video:
That’s the railing of the back deck peeking in at the bottom there, but I had no doubt that they could see me easily. Meanwhile, I have never seen a male in the vicinity of the mother duck at any time, so presumably they don’t maintain a protective pairing? I don’t now enough about their habits yet to speak authoritatively on this.
We did obtain some duckling starter food and have been distributing it in likely spots, and one set of locations, visible crossover paths between the pond and the creek at the east side of the property, gets picked clean routinely. By what, we’re not sure, though it’s an encouraging sign, especially when other locations on the pond edge have been untouched, so less likely that it’s by sparrows or something. But yeah, this certainly isn’t the last you’ll see of the wood ducks here.
* Should go without saying, really…