We have three nest boxes along Fawn Lake (Mason County, Olympic
Peninsula, Washington) in front of our home. Currently all three are
occupied by incubating females: two of them have Wood Ducks and one
has a Hooded Merganser. Actually, it is a bit more complicated than
that.

We have an infrared video camera feed from one nest box, so we can
watch the nest box happenings in real time on our television. A
female Wood Duck has occasionally been incubating a large clutch of
eggs, but until today she was sometimes gone for many hours at a
time. Today she has started virtually full time incubation.
Yesterday, while she was gone, a Hooded Merganser entered the box and
laid an egg (a bit bigger, whiter, and rounder than the Wood Duck
eggs). Then another Wood Duck entered the box briefly, laid an egg,
and quickly left. So she is incubating the eggs of at least three
individuals and two species.

This morning, during incubation, a second Wood Duck female entered
the box and laid down next to the first for at least an hour. One of
them gently groomed the head of the other. When I looked out the
window, I saw a third Wood Duck female standing on top of the box
while the other two were inside. Later, when only one female was
inside, a second entered the box and a fierce battle ensued, without
an egg being laid.

We have been taping some of the moments described above, and just
obtained the technology to transfer the data on our videotapes into
the computer, where using iMovie we can transform it into a form that
we can post to YouTube. So late next week, if all goes well, we will
have posted a series of short video segments to YouTube for your
viewing pleasure.

Meanwhile, I'm saying goodbye to the Wood Ducks for five days because
we are taking a trip to Malheur.

Lee Rentz
lee at leerentz.com