Life is just ‘ducky’ in Yooper backyards

By Karen Wils , Daily Press Escabana MI

I think almost every landowner has tried to entice the woods ducks on the property by putting up nesting boxes along their waterways. The flashy little wood duck is a handsome red-eyed, copper and green-feathered fellow. Wood ducks are designed to nest in the cavities of hollow, old trees near lakes and rivers. When humans make their homes near the water, they often remove all the dead or dying trees, leaving no good places for the woodies to nest.

Ahh those flashy wood ducks. People put up boxes hoping they’ll move in but they stubbornly insist upon the real thing. Dead tree real estate with a view of the water. Funny thing – you know what raises the water table, covers some tree roots, and makes some nice dead trees near the water?  I’ll give you a hint.  It starts with a B?

That’s why many wildlife groups make and distribute the wooden nesting boxes. My family and I have hung a few nesting boxes near the river and along the beaver pond. Even though I see wood ducks swimming betwixt and between the beavers and have watched the wood ducks eating acorns, never have I seen them using a nesting box.

Well okay, maybe beavers do leave dead trees that create ideal wood duck nesting habitat. But only in the back woods, right? Far away from everything. I mean we’d never get wood ducks in the city, right?

Brian is a good beaver friend and has been at every festival. He helped our boyscout Mitchell put in our duck boxes and works very hard to put wood duck boxes on urban creeks from Walnut Creek to Concord and San Ramon. Looks like the Bay Area needs more beavers!

(Just sayin’.)

Speaking of remarkable baby ducks, Jon stopped off this morning to watch a beaver mudding the primary dam and saw all 11 ducklings in the Annex. Also both mom and dad standing guard. So far so good!