Wood Duck Fledgings

Wed, May 18, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Five Points Road, Armstrong Township, Indiana County, PA

Trip Report

I have a fever today, so I couldn't have any outdoor adventures. However, a big adventure came to me. At around 9:00 this morning, I looked out my window at my pond and saw a female wood duck and 9 fledglings that had just left their nesting box.

The nesting box is at the edge of the pond. I had seen a pair of wood ducks investigating my two nesting boxes a couple of months ago. A couple of weeks later, I saw the female fly into the box on two separate mornings. I was hoping that she was laying eggs. I haven't been at home much in the past month. So I was unable to observe any behavior during that time, other than a single visit to the pond by the male and some starlings landing on top of the box. I had no idea whether or not the female was incubating any eggs. So, I was very pleasantly surprised this morning.

In an hour's time, I saw the group paddle across the pond twice and I saw them resting along the shore once. Sometime around 10:00 a.m. they left the pond and I haven't seen them since.

Submitted by Ed Donley

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