The last time we saw Daisy the Pacific Black Duck was when she returned to the White-Bellied Sea Eagle nest on the 23rd of December. She brought Mr Daisy with her to show him that her eggs were missing or destroyed. Daisy pushed all her down into the egg cup after walking all around the nest quacking. She arrived at 20:22:52 and left at 20:34:56. My heart broke for Daisy that day. After dealing with the possum in the early morning and the rain, Daisy was forced to leave for her morning break late. It just happened that three Ravens decided to venture out early that day. Daisy returned to her fertilized eggs missing or broken. She was frightened and confused.
This was the second time that Daisy had attempted hatching ducklings on this nest. The previous time had been in January of 2021.
Now, on 1 January 2022, Daisy and her mate have returned. When the eggs are broken, the intermission between then and the ducks mating again can be as little as ten days. It has been 9 days.
If Daisy decides to use the WBSE nest again, and it appears that she will, January will be complicated because Lady and Dad, the Sea Eagles, will be spending more time at the River Roost and more time checking on their nest.
The Sea Eagles will not be a direct problem. They might pull all the down off the eggs and might break one but they had no interest in destroying the eggs before. No, the predators are the Ravens.
If only Mr Daisy would step up and help!
Daisy arrives.
Mr Daisy arrives.
Our beautiful Daisy.
I had so hoped that she might try her luck down on the ground.
And so, we all realize the worst but hope for the best for this precious little duck that just wants to be a Mum.
There will be a lot of sleepless nites and tears. Get the tissues ready! Here are 2 video clips of Daisy and Mr Daisy arriving and inspecting the nest.
Another big surprise and a most welcome one is the return of Grinnell to The Campanile today. Here is the video clip of that moment:
Wow. Two huge surprises. I have to say that I am more than delighted to see Grinnell up on the ledge of the area that him and Annie use to raise their chicks at The Campanile on the grounds of UC-Berkeley. This is just fantastic. On the other hand, I do wish that Daisy had a safe place to lay her eggs so that she could experience the hatching and the leading of her little ones to the water. I cannot think of anything that would make all of us happier.
Thank you so much for joining me. I am thrilled to bring you this news. Take care. See you soon! Wonder what else is in store for us?
Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures and video clips: Sea Eagles@Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre Sydney Olympic Park and UC-Cal Falcons. I also want to thank ‘P’ for alerting me to Daisy’s return. I would have missed it otherwise.