In the nest box we monitor by video camera, there has been a lot of
egg laying activity the last few days. The bad news is that three
birds appear to be laying eggs--two Wood Ducks and one Hooded
Merganser--so that the nest box might end up to be an "egg dump" box,
as it was last year, when some 40 eggs were laid in the box and none
were incubated.

This morning, we had all three birds in the box at the same time! A
Wood Duck entered first, followed shortly by the Hooded Merganser.
The Wood Duck used its bill to nibble (not too aggressively) at the
Hoodie, in an act of gentle aggression. Then a second Wood Duck
entered, which caused a real ruckus. After about a minute of battle,
the two latecomers left the box.

Endlessly entertaining.

Lee Rentz
Shelton WA