Duck and moorhen update

Touch wood, the new ducks seem to be settling into a proper routine remarkably well! After about 10 days of a worrying pattern of 'in for two nights, out for two' they have now figured out that home is the shed where food is given to them when they go to bed, out of the red bowl which rattles, full of yummy duckie nutrition. The two girls are laying every day so we are not exactly short of eggs, given that the hens are generally laying 3-4 every day.

We have had to move some of the firewood in the shed though, as the log piles were low and they just wouldn't stop jumping up and walking around on top, which isn't ideal for wobbly web footed creatures. They even pulled some straw from a bale and made a nest on top of the logs! Now they have a new nest on the ground in a corner, not the original nest behind the food bin where the previous ducks laid, not that this matters really. I suppose this means they have settled in, which is a good sign. Freckles still lays the occasional egg, but mostly for the last 6 months or so when she does lay, her eggs are rubbery, or completely shell-less. It's a bit mucky to clean up but no worse than their poop!

Egg on log pile nest, and my wellie

I hardly even spend much time with them, as they are so independant compared to the first lot of ducks. It's just lovely having them wandering around chuntering happily away and swimming on the lake though - my OH admits he is glad that I persuaded him to get some more. I agree!

They just happen to get into most of my lake photos
(this ornamental cherry is just opening up into bloom now, it's going to be a real picture soon)

In other water bird news (now these ones are more suited to climbing log piles, having unwebbed feet with toes), the moorhens have been busy building nests. Yes, plural. They do that sometimes, some years they will sit on a nest for a while then decide to go and build another one somewhere else. Other times they'll just hedge their bets and build several then go eeny-meeny-miney-moe. I really don't know what goes on in the minds of moorhens. 

By the way, I read somewhere that they are no longer to be known as Moorhens, but Common Gallinules. Well I knew they were of the Gallinule family, related to the absolutely spectacular Purple Gallinule that we had the pleasure of seeing once in Spain, but I'm buggered if I am renaming this blog Chateau Common Gallinule. No way!

Common Gallinule nest in the Common Gallinule tree.
It doesn't really work, does it?

Edit: Phew, needn't have worried! It was the North American Moorhen which has now changed its name, even though I can barely see a difference between the two. So Moorhen we can continue to be, although I will dispense with the words 'Eurasian Common' which is the first part of its correct name. Chateau Eurasian Common Moorhen is even more silly than Chateau Common Gallinule!