Mother Mallard, BlackBerry Shots, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, April 2011, photo © 2011 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Day in and day out
humans race from place to place;
nature sits rain or shine, not tossed away
for that one wild chance — ducklings on Mother’s Day.
NOTE: I’ve been checking on Mother Mallard every day since I first saw her little nest of eggs (see Nesting & Resting) in a high traffic area near an industrial complex. She sits patiently through volatile storms, human insensitivity, rushing wind and rain, days when the Sun warms her nest. She never wavers. I learn from her, as I often learn from Mother Nature — don’t be tossed away.
-posted on red Ravine, Saturday, May 7th, 2011, World Labyrinth Day
-related to posts: WRITING TOPIC — LIGHT AS A FEATHER, haiku 4 (one-a-day) Meets renga 52, MN Black Bear Den Cam: Will Lily Have Cubs?
redravine.wordpress.com 
She’s sensational. I never thought a mallard’s eyes could communicate something…then I saw this picture.
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Teri, thank you. Her eyes are amazing. Actually, it’s her one eye that follows me around when I stoop to take her photo. I try to be respectful and not get too close to her. At first, she ran from all the humans who walked by. Then when she saw that no one was going to bother her, she stopped running. Now she just keeps a close eye on us. We’re all very protective of her and the babes. It’s all the buzz in the building. I hope I’m around when the ducklings hatch!
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Oh, QM, this is so beautiful it brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. Immediately I recalled a phrase from one of David’s Psalms, “He shall cover thee with His feathers…” and your words, how she overcame her fear of the humans, but still remained watchful and, with the eternal, everlasting Mother-love, stayed to protect her wee ones! You were right in your former post about how well she and her nest blend in so beautifully to the surroundings. An artist could not have composed a more perfect setting! I can hardly wait for the next chapter in her story!
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Ditto what Teri & oliverowl said! I loved this from the first time I saw it! I come back to look at it every time I’m starting to feel blue & tossed away, I guess I have a moment like that everyday, so ever since you first posted it. I immediately have a change of mood. I love this! Thank-you!
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oliverowl, thanks so much for your words of kindness. I checked on Mother Mallard this morning and she’s still there, sitting on the little egglings. What amazes me are the little down feathers that form a circle around the nest. They shine like little stars. This morning there was more down. Where does it come from?
alittlediddy, so happy to have you stop by! I’ve missed you. I’m glad the photo cheers you up. It does the same for me. There is something about the way she looks at you. She had the one eye watching me again today. She looked thinner today. I hope the ducklings make it. I’ll keep checking on them until I know for sure. Hope I don’t miss it!
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Oh, one more thing. We had a ferocious storm tonight after an 85 degree May day! It hailed the size of baseballs some places. I wondered how she hung on through a storm like that. We heard the tornado sirens go off in the Casket Arts Building, just got home and everything is okay. We are getting ready for Art-A-Whirl which is coming up weekend after this one. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since the last one. It’s a lot of work but I love it. Hope the weather holds. We passed the Twins stadium on the way home and wondered if they closed the game down during the hail! Liz is watching the game now at home…looks like they kept going!
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QM,
I wondered what those little white things were. Thanks for clearing up the mystery! The down would have to be from her. But how beautiful they are placed, …a wee miracle! We would have to consult an Ornithologist to find out what is happening. It might be some kind of “Spring shedding.” Serena is leaving clumps of her soft “under-hair” all over the house. And the deer that were in my yard Sunday, looked like they were having a “bad hair day,” with their winter coats shedding in bits and pieces.
Diddy, I hope all is well with you and your family! I grow more appreciative of these electronic ways of keeping in touch, and the comfort we can garner from each other in doing so. My oldest grandson is in Thailand, but with email and facebook, he might be as close as my computer
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Exquisite and magical. I’m going to leave this image up on my computer today while working at my windowless desk.
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Teresa, what an honor! That’s so cool. I’ve tried to take a photograph of Mother Mallard every day. So far, I think this is still the best BlackBerry shot I’ve gotten of her. Yesterday it poured down rain, I mean torrential. She continued to sit. No ducklings yet. I wonder how long it takes? I need to look that up. I do come back and look at this photo each day. It makes me feel peaceful as I run around like a crazy woman trying to get ready for Art-A-Whirl next weekend. Whew…tonight I stopped awhile to breathe.
oliverowl, our cats are shedding like mad. Tonight we actually ran a cat fur lint brush across Kiev’s back. She kind of liked it. Mr. Stripeypants has been running wild through the house. He has Spring Fever!
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I almost hate to come back and update this post. But it’s the nature of Mother Nature. Like when Lily’s cub Jason died. Or when Hope was sick last year.
I checked on Mother Mallard last Monday, May 23rd. She was still sitting on the eggs but seemed restless and moving all around. The next day, Tuesday, May 24th, she was gone. It was the strangest thing.
All the eggs were cracked. One was broken open a foot away from the nest and splattered around. It looked like there were chicks inside but they never hatched for some reason. I don’t know if maybe some animal got to them when Mother Mallard was taking a break or what happened. We were all very sad.
I was amazed at how everyone talked about Mother Mallard and her eggs every single day. I took a photo when I passed her nest. It was a way of connecting through Mother Nature. Even in an urban setting.
The eggs are still there in the nest, looking cracked and forlorn. I guess one day, the wind will blow them away and they’ll go back to the Earth. I am sure Mother Mallard went on her way and will probably have another batch of eggs next year. But still the mystery — what happened?
I guess it’s possible that something attacked the mother in the night. If so, I’d imagine there would be more evidence of that. It’s the risk you take when you follow the Wild with your camera and writings. You have to take the good with the bad.
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