This was something neat that I discovered. Mama wood ducks will not leave their nest past a certain time in the nesting cycle even when a flash goes off above her head in the duck box. She will just give a menacing hiss. We have a few wood duck boxes in our backyard and every year many new ducks are produced. I counted 26 ducks that came out of one box no more than 10 yards from our bedroom window. It is a wonderful sight to behold the activity and divine design in these beautiful birds. One day a hawk had been killing the new birds as they came out of the box and so I thought I would give the process a hand. When the ducks came out of the box I went out to assure their safety. The mama duck began to act as if she had a broken wing and began to "flop" off into a direction away from her young to lead me away from her nest. I backed off a ways and noticed after she left with her brood that one duck could still be heard in the box. I was able to help it out and back to a very angry mother who thought I was going to hurt the baby. She came swimming toward me as if she was going to attack me as I released the young into the water close to her. It would be wonderful if all human moms protected their young so well. It is important to see this for God is revealed in what He created. It is a divine design. Just another day in the life of the wildlife photographer.
