Well, we discovered DUCK’s nest on May 14. She was first spotted on April 11, a month earlier, but it wasn’t until the middle of May that Ruby found her nest. Assuming she’d begun to lay by then, I think it’s safe to assume that she’s not going to hatch any of the eggs sitting there.
Mallards, we’re told, take 24 to 28 days to hatch. The mother doesn’t begin incubating until all the eggs are laid; at a laying rate of one egg per day, the incubation period started no later than May 25. Today is June 22, which would make today Break-Out Day. So far, though, no sign of any babes.
It’s likely she started laying sooner than May 14, though, because she was SO determined not to leave the pool area after I discovered her. If she had begun laying in April, then the ducklings are way overdue.
She still sits on the nest at least part of the day. But she’s gone for extended periods now. The weather is so hot that she presumably could leave for quite awhile without having them cool down…it’s 5 p.m. right now, and the back porch thermometer says 110 degrees. That’s in the shade.
So, I suspect DUCK is returning for a few hours a day out of habit or forlorn hope. But it looks like that hope really is forlorn, indeed. {sigh}