So I went out to cut up a fallen willow branch...

[Hass]

and got scared to death by a duck lurking in my woods!

I was visitng my parents earlier today, and forgot my phone there so no pictures!

But I saw her start to waddle away, then fly slowly... I thought she was wounded to be honest... why on earth would a duck be this far from a lake or anything?
So I watch her fly away (I love ducks), think for a while about why on earth she was hiding behind a tree, then go about my business.
As I'm walking towards the branch, I see a nest of 12+ eggs there!

I was so surprised, especially since I was just out hauling stuff around yesterday and didn't see anything there.
Not that I was looking for it or anything, but man... it's a cute little nest!


Is there anything I can do for her to help her out?
Or just let mother nature do it's thing?
There's random cats and woodchucks/skunks that wonder around, there's also foxes in the area but not so much near me.

Any advice?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Usually best to let Mother Nature take care of things but that is a great find.

 

[firefighterjake]

Live and let live . . . ducks have been doing their thing for many, many years without needing our "help" . . . best thing we can do is often to just stay away and let them do what they need to do.

This is a good reminder though . . . taking down trees this time of year can sometimes be a bad thing as there is a chance you may take down a tree with a bird's nest and eggs or young birds in that nest . . . did this last year and ended up hurting a chickadee.

 

[homebrewz]

Is there anything I can do for her to help her out?

Well, I read somewhere that Aflac is hiring.

That's a great find though. I've found ducks spook pretty easily, which is probably a good thing. They are fun to watch.. best to leave it be for now, but perhaps you could observe the ducklings from a decent blind later in the spring. Do you know what kind of duck it was?

 

[humpin iron]

the wounded/ weak act was to draw you away from the nest, she's fine

 

[midwestcoast]

Agree with all comments made. Leave the area alone & trust she'll come back.