At 8:17 a.m. today, the mother Wood Duck left our nest box, landing
on the water below. She signaled to the young inside the box, and
one after another they jumped like little jumping beans to the
opening. There, they paused for a moment to survey the outside world
for the first time, then leaped into the unknown. They landed on the
earth below, then scrambled to join their mother on the water a few
feet away. It was all over in two to three minutes.

There were approximately 18-20 fledglings, including one Hooded
Merganser baby who happily joined its inter-species brothers and
sisters in this new family. One baby hatched late or was sickly, and
was left behind. After hatching yesterday morning, the dried out and
alternately snuggled under their mother to stay warm or emerged from
her feathers to wiggle around and jump around her.

The tightly-clustered family of ducks then moved along the shoreline
of Fawn Lake, eventually crossing a narrower part of the lake.

Baby pictures to follow sometime soon.

Lee & Karen Rentz
Shelton, WA
http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/leerentz
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