Bye Bye, Tiny Ducklings

 You guys, I am devastated to announce that the ducks already are gone! We called the local fish and wildlife division to ask them questions and they told us one of the things we needed to do was open the gate so that they could leave when they wanted. TBH I already knew this was a possibility, because mama duck had been hanging out at the gate door, so I knew was antsy. So we opened it up and they immediately headed out! Down the street and we watched them until they were gone. Did I cry? Oh, of course, absolutely. But I am so glad we could have them here, even for a few days only. 

Duckling-Palooza

 Now, I know what you're wondering, Vieve, did you spend most of the day outside, watching the ducklings? And the answer is, of course, yes. 

Had to get a pic of the broken eggs, of course. 

The pool is too deep for the tiny ducklings to get out, so we had to devise a way for them to get out, when needed. So we put down a pool tarp, going from the pool to the outside. It actually worked! 

They would take a rest there when needed, and then they made their way out. We spent a good chunk of the morning trying to help them out of the pool without actually touching them or being able to communicate haha.

I love these tiny ducks already!

We've Got Babies!!!

 So, I get done with work today. I walk downstairs and outside, checking on Daisy. It's been so hot of late, and she sits DIRECTLY in the sun all afternoon, so I'm always afraid she's overheating. I was heading over to her, to give her a snack of some lettuce (and refill her water bowl), when I noticed something. 

The ducklings have been born!! It's a bit sooner than I thought we would have them (In my calculations, we still had another week or so, but that's okay) but here they are! 

I immediately backed up and let them be. These new new babies need to left alone, at least for the first day. 

The Final Numbers!

 Well, y'all, we have the final duck egg count and it's 12! The incubation period has begun and this tiny duck just spends all day in the yard, hanging out with her ducks. 

So now some shots of her just hanging out! 

She's a little hard to see on her nest, but I am keeping an eye out on her all the time! 

A Surprise!

 The other day, a couple of ducks flew into the backyard, a male and a female. They would just fly in, the male would stay in our pool for a while, and the female just walked around. This has been going on for the last week or so, and we've loved watching them come in. Today, I went over to where I kept seeing the female hang out and found this: 

An egg! One egg! I was shocked that she had just left the egg (she just flew away this morning and hasn't been back since) so I started to google stuff about this.

Turns out, this is what ducks do. They come into an area with water, they lay 12-16 eggs, one a day, and then after she's laid all she's gonna do, she will incubate the eggs for 28 days and then they'll hatch! So I guess we'll keep an eye here and see what happens!