We found the coolest thing...

The other day when we were working on the garden we saw a duck (wood ) fly out of a hole in a tree about 20 feet up fly to another tree, get something and fly back to its' home. (THis is on our property in our woods)

Well today I sent my ds 9 out to get some pond water for a health experiment with the microscope. And he came running back in to say that there were baby ducks swimming in the pond.

They dashed away quickly but then 2 strays came back to the water and swam around a little bit. Then dashed away. They are about 1/2 the size of the ducklings that we are raising. They were absolutely adorable.

My dd 18 took pictures. Here they are.

It was so cool. Sure hope they are going to stay and raise there family in the woods. BTW there were 8 babies.

Thought this was interesting. Sounds like they jump out like they did  in this movie. 


Here's how they get down. Yikes...

This video is actually from Planet Earth Discovery channel movies... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei1Vi012lNg&feature=related



 Ducklings usually leave the nest the day after they are hatched. At 
 the hen's call, they use their sharp claws to climb to the entrance of

 the tree cavity or nest box. They pause momentarily at the entrance  before jumping sometimes from as high as 70 feet. They hit the ground 
or water uninjured. After the entire brood is out, the hen leads them

to water

 The hen usually remains with her brood until the young are able to fly

(about 9 weeks). The mortality rate (due primarily to predation from  turtles, alligators, snakes, bass, etc.) of ducklings is quite high. Normally, only 3 to 4 from a brood survive to the flying stage. The  hen, after leaving her brood,also molts during late summer. One brood

 per year is normal, but two broods can occur. Females tend to return to their former nest site or to the general  area where they were hatched.