Mallard Inspection

Last week we underwent a mallard inspection. That is, a pair of mallard ducks were checking out potential nesting sites in our back yard. One day Joan spotted the female sitting on the deck railing for at least fifteen minutes. Two days later, to our surprise, we saw her perched atop the shrubbery next to our deck. Mallards are usually ground nesters.

She wasn't swallowed by the yew because it's draped in black-colored deer netting, which helps protect the bush from the ravages of deer chomping, especially in winter. Click on this closeup and perhaps you can make it out.

Such an inspection is a serious, time-consuming business. This female mallard stared forward, stared towards me,

and then flew down and waddled to the bottom of the yew. She gazed up into the interior for minutes at a time, as if trying to visualize how her nest might appear from a ground-based predator's point of view.

The drake stood a few feet away, patiently waiting. Clearly the choice of nesting site was her decision, not his.

We had a second visit from this pair the next day, so we made the semi-finals, but we haven't seen them since.