I noticed a star magnolia blooming at the southeast corner of the Tata Innovation Center on Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island on April 22nd, 2020.
And then something else caught my attention as I was getting closer to take a picture of the flower.
A duck that moved in the grass.
The duck ran away and stopped...to get my attention away from her nest!
A nest with 8 eggs.
I am sorry mama duck!
I did not mean to disturb you.
I touch nothing and back away.
I wait for the mama duck to settle back in the nest and then I put a camera to start recording.
Let's observe her...
The mama duck changes her position every 20-30 minutes or so.
Cleans her feathers while sitting on the eggs.
Occasionally, she nibbles the surrounding grass.
And most of the time, she stays still.
Which makes it nearly impossible to find her!
She works very thoroughly to keep all eggs warm and hidden away.
Here she tackles one of the eggs.
It is very hard to see her or her nest when she stays still.
Amazing!
In the following weeks, I visit her daily.
Always struggling to find her, even I know where to look for.
I check on her at different times of day.
Day or night, morning or evening - she is always in the nest!
In the cold and rain, she is always there keeping the eggs warm.
I don't see her male duck even once.
The mama duck stays in the nest for about 3 weeks without taking leave.
On May 11th, 19 days since I found the nest, the mama duck is not in the nest for the first time.
The eggs are covered with duck's down very thoroughly.
I move the down carefully just to take a look at the eggs...
Here you can see them.
The down serves as a blanket to keep the eggs warm.
Let's cover the eggs with the down as we found them.
About ten minutes later, the mama duck is back in the nest.
Two days later, on May 13th, the mama duck is gone again.
She covered the eggs again, and...it's so warm in the nest!
I cover the eggs and look around to see where she could be.
Sure thing, the mama duck is nearby across the street by the river.
Apparently, she is watching me.
She flew back to the nest right away, leaving me to watch her male duck swimming in the East river.
May 16th, 2020
The mama duck is gone again.
The nest is covered thoroughly, but it's flat...
Aha! Ducklings hatched last night!
Here you can see the remains, the egg shells.
Remarcably, the mama duck covered the nest to keep it hidden even after ducklings hatched and left the nest for good.
Let's cover the nest back the way mama duck wants it.
I wonder which way the duck family may have gone...
Ducklings should be able to jump down those high steps going down to the street.
Walk across the street to the river.
And then jump to the river...that is more than a 6 foot drop down to the rocks.
I hope the tide was high, covering the rocks, helping ducklings to make a nice first splash.
Have fun and happy ducks :)
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