Wood Duck Box Changing

This past weekend we were up at the duck camp for a labor weekend.  The biggest task was mowing fire breaks around the property for an impending burn of our switchgrass.  The burn is necessary as it kills off the noxious weeds, kills off the pocket gophers, and results in a much thicker, robust field of grass for our pheasants.

We were also to do some cleaning of wood duck boxes as the weather had gotten warm, our lakes opened, and wood ducks would soon be nesting.

While Fuzzy was working on the plumbing, I decided to start work on the houses without him.  I drove our vehicle to the first box, climbed up and unscrewed the base to remove any eggshells or debris and replace the bedding.

As I lowered the base out of the box, I thought to myself,  "Damn, this base seems heavy."  At heavy it was, as when I got it out of the house, I was met with a hen wood duck sitting on a brood of eggs. 

I'm not sure who was more surprised, and she managed to fly away and I managed to not spill any eggs from the full nest.  I quickly replaced the base while she watched from a nearby lake.

I guess the old bedding from last year is going to have to work.  Judging by my interaction, it does seem to be working just fine.