A sitting duck

 It looks as though the scare I gave the duck yesterday has inspired her to sit tight and begin to brood. I don't have the heart to dislodge her, and with a brood time of 28 days Robinetta will be getting a late start to the season.

I will go again and check next week, just in case she abandons the nest....

Mallard eggs

Since we live 35 miles from Tollesbury I have been unable to visit Robinetta during lockdown, even though the Marina stayed open. The marina have been keeping an eye on her, and an OGA friend has been walking past her on a regular basis, so I was not worried, but as soon as we were allowed to travel I headed to see her.

Rain had accumulated on the fore deck cover as usual, and we will need to take her to the scrubbing posts to take off the weed, but otherwise she looks good externally. 

I did not get a chance to look inside though, since as I went to the stern to start taking off the cockpit cover a duck flew out from under it. There, nestled between the pin rail and the main sheet horse, were 4 eggs. The duck did not fly far, and I headed to the marina office to find out if there was a policy on what to do in this situation.

The harbour master said it was up to me what to do, and I had a chat with a local who offered to contact a local wildlife enthusiast who might take the eggs off the boat to hatch them this evening. I will go back in the morning, and if the eggs have gone I will be happy. Apparently a normal clutch for Mallards is about 12 eggs, so this is a partially laid clutch and the duck can start again elsewhere.