Drop on by and visit for a spell!

  I often talk about the Yellow-crowned Night Herons that beg for handouts at the pier.  This started with one back several years ago and has multiplied steadily since.  Add the egrets, pelicans and various gulls to the mix and you can see that I have quite the menagerie of friends begging for food.  I do believe that I have them spoiled!  It really doesn't matter, though, as I love each of them and our times together.

  This evening, however, two new birds joined the group.  A pair of Mottled Ducks swam right up to the pier to greet me.  The pair were on their way home from my cousin, Michelle's house and their nightly meal.  She sets out a grand buffet for all sorts of critters.  These two are just a couple of the many that dine at her place but nest in the Bayou. Their nightly trek back home takes them past the pier but never before have they stopped for a visit.  This evening was quite special!  I like the Mottled Ducks as they are the only ducks that actually nest in the Bayou. Most others will journey away from here to brood their young. The Wood Ducks are the only other ducks that nest near here and they seem to prefer the privacy of the creek bed.  

  The visit of the two ducks made me think that perhaps the word has gotten out about my handouts just like the idea of Michelle's diner.  I have no clue as to why the ducks thought that they needed more to eat after leaving her place but I was so very happy to oblige.  I will be sure not to overfeed them, though, so they will make the journey back to her place each day.  She and I both love the wildlife around here and enjoy watching the different critters that come to eat.  

  The Mottled Duck usually raises one brood each year.  Nesting in thick grasses or palmetto thickets, the mother will lay eight to ten eggs per clutch.  These will hatch in twenty-five to twenty-seven days and the mother will have the little ones out in the water within twenty-four hours.  Not being able to fly for a couple of months makes the ducklings easy prey for so many critters.  Fox, coons, bobcats, hawks, herons,snakes, snapping turtles, alligators and even larger fish will dine upon the babies given the chance.  Mother Duck has a full time job keeping tabs on the youngsters.