Wood Ducks in the Barn

I never know what I'll find in the neighborhood and today wasn't an exception. I was in the lower level of our barn, working on my old John Deere tractor and I kept hearing noises in the upper level of the barn. The noise sounded like a squirrel, but after 20 minutes I decided to investigate.

What I found was a Wood Duck hen and 9 little ducklings. I don't know where the ducklings were hatched, but I'm sure it wasn't in the barn. The hen acted like it had a busted wing as it went out the door. The ducklings started to jump out of a hole in the side of the barn. It's about a 13 foot drop to the ground but this is normal for wood duck chicks to leap from their nests in trees just days after hatching.



I quickly went outside to the back of the barn and found the ducklings looking for a place to hide.



The mother duck flew in next to me and tried to draw me away from the duckings by acting like she a disabling injury.



After 10 to 15 minutes of "hide and seek" the duckings regrouped in the lawn.



The mother duck was never far away as she tried to plan her next move.



In the end the hen flew into the cattails below the barn and started calling to the ducklings. The ducklings were last seen walking through my garden heading for the cattails.



These ducklings were only a couple of days old and its seems a little late for the ducklings to hatch. This may have been the same wood duck hen I saw land on the pond at our cabin a couple of days ago. I think the hen was looking for a place to relocate the duckings.