The mallards have moved in at our house! For several days, every time we went out the front door for our walks we were determined to go to the front bay window. Mom didn’t let us as she was afraid of what was lurking there. Finally, she let me check it out, and then she screamed and I jumped. A duck flew out from under the bay window! That is when we learned a family had moved in.
We like to name things around here, so we have named Mr and Mrs Mallard, Matthew and Melissa. For short we call them Matt and Missy. Our stuffed Mallard is very old, from Dayton’s Boundary Waters Collection and his name on his tag is Matthew Mallard.
While Missy is sitting on her little nest Matt hangs around in our front yard keeping watch.
Missy doesn’t like anyone coming near her. I scared her pretty badly when Mom let me check under the window. We never thought of a duck being under there. Mom tried for days to get a photo of her on the nest. She always flies away and lands in the road until we go away.
Finally, Mom was able to capture this shot of Missy on her nest. Because it is dark under the window and she is dark, it is really hard to see her live or in a photo. It is the best we could get.
How many mallards are they expecting? When Missy was away, Mom snapped a shot of the eggs in the nest. We count seven, but there could be more we don’t see in the photo. After reading about ducklings we think these will hatch in about two weeks. Hopefully we will catch them when they march off to find the nearest water a couple blocks away. Time will tell. For now we have to say Matt and Missy did not choose a smart spot to grow their family, but we are being gracious hosts and hopefully the eggs will hatch and then the ducklings will get started on their lives.
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Animals can sure choose the craziest spots for their nests! Baby mallards are so cute and so fast!
We sure hope we get to see them before they head off to the water!
wow you have your own duck tv… all the good luck to missy and her eggs ;O)
We are excited to see the ducklings. Hope we don’t miss them.
What lucky pups you are gonna have lots of ducks, mama duck better be good at keeping her ducklings in a row.
Do you have a pond near by? I never would have imagined ducks would lay their eggs so close to a home.
Keep us posted on the eggs. I’ve never seen a baby mallard
Hugs Cecilia
We have read all about it since it has never happened before. They all hatch within 24 hours of each other. Then they have to get dry and learn to stand and walk which is about ten hours. Finally when they are dry and walking Mom walks them to the water which is the most dangerous part of their lives. We hope to get to see it!
Oh what a treat to be able to watch the ducks! Hope you get to see all the little ducklets!
We really want to see the little ones marching off.
I think they found a very safe home. Your mom would never let anything happen to them to him.
They are safe for now, but when they make their trip to the water, it will be tricky. Hopefully they will make it.
Great photo of Missy on the nest! Your mom did a fabulous job! Her shot is in league with professional wildlife photographers! KUDOS! Ther is a good chance that Matt and Missy may nest there every year now. Mallards are legend for their weird choices of nesting spots. They literally will nest in a shoebox!
Mom’s cousin had one nesting in a flower pot on her porch a few years back. Strange they don’t look for a spot that is close to the water.
I love your new neighbors. Ducks are curious little wonders of creation. They come in such a wide variety of colors. They can make a very scary sound when they come out of the grass to take flight. Soon you will have several little ones to watch. What fun.
The little ones will all be gone after they hatch and make the journey to the water. We don’t know why they don’t nest by the water. Hopefully we will get to see them.
Awww, it’s Spring and there is love in the air. Great shots.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. Scritches to all the furbabes and a hug to mom. ♥
Thank you. Matt is very protective of Missy and the eggs. Hopefully they will all hatch and we can get a peak at them.
Oh sweet doggie with the duck ~ lovely photos of Spring ~
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
The ducks definitely say spring!
Thank you for this sweet post and for caring about the ducks!
Mom is pretty kind to all living creatures except reptiles, they terrify her and she can’t stand to even see them. We hope these eggs hatch and the family has a safe journey to the water.
Great photos! And we had a mother Wood Duck and her babies saunter onto our deck- unfortunately my camera was not on the dining room table so no opportunity to capture this rare event! Have a lovely week!
Ducks are hard to capture, ours keep flying away when Mom tries to take a photo.
oh our goodness!!!!! What an exciting post. We can’t wait to read more about Mr and Mrs Mallard. Maybe you all can draw a map for Matt and Missy — to show them the way to water? That sounds like the trickiest part of this adventure. Keep up the good watching. your friends Lilly and Chester
We just hope we get to see the little ones. Matt and Missy are pretty secretive and from what we have read, they usually take the ducklings to the water early in the morning. Paws crossed!
They think it’s a smart place, it’s very secluded for Missy. A lot of critters think a spot is good but the people or pets who already live there don’t quite see it the same way.
It is very hard to see her in there, but we dogs smell her ever time we go outside for a walk.
Obviously, the girl duck’s name is perfect! BOL!BOL! ducks can get pretty mean so y’all be careful.
LOL, we didn’t thing about her name until you mentioned it! Ducks can get mad, but nothing like those awful Canadian Geese. They are really nasty birds.
Wow, that’ll be quite the family in due time. Too cute.
We hope the ducklings let us see them.