Nesting Mrs Mallard

[christina]

We have been honoured by Mrs Mallard, she is nesting in one of the pillars of our brick wall. Yesterday we were both pottering in the garden and Mrs Mallard left her nest, we both thought we had disturbed her so we took a peek at the fishpond, no sign, we took a look at the swimming pool and there she was....My question is if she successfully rears all her 14 duckings (eggs at the moment) and she takes them in the swimming pool, will the chemicals harm her/them? We recently returned from 5 weeks in scotland and the pool was rather yukky so hubby topped up the chemicals and gave it some shock (that was before we knew we had Mrs Mallard in residence).

[witham]

Not 100% sure but I think they could well be harmfull both to the duck and her ducklings, is there anything in them that could destroy the waterproofing in her feathers, if so she could drown if in the water for long.

[christina]

Thank you Witham. I know that chlorine is in the pool, could this be harmful to her waterproofing?

[willing to learn]

It as said chlorine will strip oil from mother and ducklings, plus as they dabble
and sift the water they will ingest chlorine. Try to keep the sitting duck away all so, as chlorine won't do the eggs any favours. Good luck.
Regards
Colin

[christina]

Thank you for your advice willing to learn...how do I keep her away from the pool? That's gonna be a difficult task.

[RobinP]

Could you not cover it with some netting?

[witham]

I'd not thought about the eggs, but of course it could well be harmfull to them as has been said, I know with chickens if left to brood naturaly they usually leave their eggs twice a day, at approx dusk and dawn when there is likely to be dew on the grass etc,this is absorbed by their soft under feathers and then when they go back to the nest they shuffle about in the nest to turn the eggs and the dampness on their feathers is absorbed by the shells as it helps with the humidity, when we used to have a lot more chickens I know that in very dry years the hatching rate was always lower, we sometimes used to 'mist' the eggs with a very fine water spray to try to help things along a bit

[christina]

We shall try and cover pool. Mrs Mallard has been leaving the nest at dusk and flying towards the lakes near us but I guess she got hot yesterday afternoon and had a quick dip in the pool. Its a pity she prefers the pool to the fish pond, which has lots of things in it for her to eat and a nice running waterfall too. Let's hope that the eggs have not been harmed.

[witham]

Good luck I hope they hatch successfully, it's a great time of the year, our garden is like one big maternity ward at the moment, there's birds nesting everywhere in trees, hedges, plants, buildings, it's also a nightmare trying to keep the cat in as much as possible, there's too many easy meals about at the moment

[christina]

Thank you Witham...and good luck to you and your maternity unit lol.

We did have a scare last night, Mrs Mallard flew off to the lakes at about 6.30, rather than 7.30-800 and when I checked out the window I saw a crow at the nest....I ran out but he had destroyed a few eggs. Mrs Mallard came back and took at least one egg and dropped it in the swimming pool, she hung around for a while then flew away...we thought she had abandoned her nest but at 6.30 this morning I peeked out the window and there she was, back on her nest...I am sooo chuffed now and am keeping a very close eye on those bloomin old crows lol.

[witham]

Crows can be such horrid birds, they've started appearing in our garden again, I think its because there's so many easy targets about for them, we have allready found a couple of birds eggs broken on the ground away from the nests, one year we watched one cheeky Crow land in the chicken pen, walk over to the hut, up the ramp, through the hatch go inside and reappear with an egg in its beak, we were as they say 'gobsmacked', we keep Bantums so the eggs arn't ever so big, you can't guarantee what time the chickens are going to lay so it's pretty impossible to say how many they might have taken in the past, so if I'm at home I regularly check the nest boxes.

[christina]

I can only agree with you Witham regarding the crows, I used to love all birds but am changing my mind rapidly lol....Yes, Bantum eggs are tiny, used to keep chickens in the 70s...had a few prized cockerels and a few Rhodies and lots and lots of beautiful fresh freerange eggs lol.

Update: she left the nest yesterday, we kept an eye on it but we stopped for dinner, after dinner hubby went to check on the nest and the crows had devoured all the eggs....upsettting to say the least...but strangely, she returned with Mr Mallard, they hung around for a while and then flew away....I said she was saying to him "but I want a nest in this garden" and he was saying "...but look what happened to your last nest etc"...lol....I do hope she is successful second time around and would be delighted if she returned to the garden and built a new nest somewhere in the bushes....

[witham]

Poor Mr & Mrs M, I do feel sorry for them she should lay again though so fingers x, As well as the Crows, we have also being invaded by up to 6 Jackdaws and although they seem like much nicer birds especially watching their comical antics, I have a couple of topics about them, , they also have a reputation for invading other birds nests, pinching fledglings etc and as if that wasn't bad enough Magpies are also around and about and they're even worse, it's a great time of year if you encourage birds into your garden but at the same time can be heartbreaking although I think the birds get over it and move on quicker than I do

[christina]

What I found amazing was the fact that Mr Mallard returned and took his lady away, obviously to find a new nesting site....I do hope they are successful. Magpies, yes, had a problem with them last year, heard a blackbird going bonkers and when I eventually found her at bottom of garden, she was trying to distract/scare away a magpie....I soon did the job for her and I believe her eggs/chicks were saved. I know its nature and I know they "get over it quickly" but it still hurts me to see it happening - you're just a big softie as I am lol....would love to see a jackdaw visit the garden but only if they behave themselves lol.