You have heard of the battles Mamas fight to protect their babies… well… we arrived home and I was sorting through laundry when I heard a commotion out back. Chuck and our neighbor Tami had just been "attacked" by a very frightened Mama duck who has built and filled a nest right up against our house, underneath a painting of a big sword fish I painted on the back wall… she’s resting practically on a very busy walkway between our house and Mike’s house. What creeped out the Mama duck was Tami bringing my plants back from a holiday at her house. Tami pointed at the duck who was walking back and forth down by the lake… Then we saw why the duck was upset. She had dug a hole and feathered the nest with white furry feathers and filled it with eggs! They lay very vulnerable and exposed to our wondering eyes. As I watched from inside the house, peering out a back window, I worried about the vacated abandoned nest, and wrote to Mike and Kathie asking them not to walk over to my house, and asking how long it takes to hatch eggs…. Mike’s reply was naughty… "30 days to hatch, 10 minutes for an omelet." Meanwhile… our beloved neighborhood kittie Peanut who used to come by 3 or 4 times a day to get petted, to chase birds, to eat mousies… was hit by a car and is gone… I miss her daily visits, but I wonder what havoc she might have caused to the duck.
We used the front door to go over to Mike’s for Chuck’s birthday celebration and when we got home we peered out and we could see Mama duck’s head from the window. She was on the nest and she has been there all day today. Whew!!!! Big crisis. Meanwhile, the Martin house is full of singing birdies! Nesting and singing. I have had the windows open all day today to listen to the singing… Although it is hot, the singing of nesting birds is wonderful!!! I’m balancing check books and filing papers and doing laundry (not hanging it on the line lest I disturb "Mama")… May you have some happy signs of spring life in your week!!! Happy Easter. God bless you.