Funny lookin wood duck

[eyeguy 54]

[half-dutch]

One of my aunts in NW Iowa was working in her garden this past week when all of a sudden it started raining baby wood ducks. The hen had taken up in a natural hole in one of the yard trees. She called out something like a dozen or so ducklings and played "injured wing" until she led the little legion off. The nearest water was easily two or three blocks away.

Then after that another duckling came out and was certainly abandoned. My aunt caught that little straggler and eventually got it to water, thinking she was saving it. Of course its chances for survival all by itself were essentially zero, but my aunt wouldn't hear of that.

The female woodies should be presenting their broods of "water bugs" all over around here about now. Here in Minneapolis one place to see woodies in pretty impressive numbers is Powderhorn Park. The pond there supports a lot of them every year.