During the pandemic when so much seemed wrong in the world, the lake behind our home welcomed a new resident.
The moment we spotted this sweet face, we were smitten.
Found primarily in Texas and points south, Muscovy ducks aren’t native to North Carolina, so this fella stood out from the crowd.
Because of its size, we assumed it was a male and named it Donald.
Donald loved being around people. We looked forward to his daily visits.
After a few months, to our surprise, Donald built a nest and laid the first egg.
He was actually a she! But we still called her Donald.
Each day, we welcomed the sight of a new egg
Sadly, after she laid six eggs, a snake invaded the nest. After, Donald began to reject the eggs until all were removed.
A couple of months later, Donald surprised us with another nest.
Donald has been sitting on these eggs for the past six weeks.
She only leaves in the morning and evening to cool down in the lake.
Last week, she rejected three eggs, so we are hopeful we’ll see some ducklings soon!
I’ll keep you posted.
In my next letter, I’ll share a little writing news.
Thanks for reading!
Jill
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