It's kind of hard to believe, but the house that still feels like it's under projects has been mine since the end of April 2008. I really ''moved in'' in the Spring of 2009, so this our 3rd full year experiencing the seasons and the gardens of this house!
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| Front Garden |
What's to expereince in a modest front garden and a wooden deck terrace in the back? Well, living on the water means more than
backyard ice skating in winter - it also means that in planting and balcony boxes follow the duck breeding and nesting season.
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| Back Garden / Terrace |
The first year, I assumed that we had a duck nest in our large wooden planter becuase the house had been unoccupied for a while before we moved in. The second year, we noticed neighbors had baskets or special places set out (which the ducks may or may not use) and had the thought it might be the same duck coming back as the year before.
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| Nest of 2008 |
Now, this year we were pretty sure we have a repeat nest builder, although it seems that pretty much anywhere on ther terrace is fair game when it comes to a nest building site.
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| Nest of 2010 |
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| Nest and Hatchlings of 2011 |
Once they hatch, mom (duck, not me) drops them into the water at the edge of terrace - becuase the babies don't fly, they will not come back to the nest once they leave . From there, we try to keep track of which babies were ''ours'', but the survivial rates are not very high, unfortunately.
Still even at the expense of delayed flower boxes together with a good 30 days where to step onto your own terrace means being greeted by a territorial, hissing duck (!), Kevin looks forward every year to seeing the eggs.
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| Isn't it the same duck? Hachlings 2012 - really! |
2 years in a row now we've seen the morning when they hatch (even if it looks the the same photo, they are taken a year apart), and mom has to admit it's pretty cool.
In the meantime, I've given up on the idea that anything will grow in those wooden flower pots other than baby ducks, and stick to my moveable rail mounted baskets - from the end of May onwards.....
