Nature Done Wright

   In late January, I went out onto the ice on Lake Appert with the marsh warden and a couple of volunteers to clean out the wood-duck boxes for the next generation of eggs and ducklings in the spring.
   The ice was talking loudly as we walked toward the center of the ice, and we spread out so as not to put too much weight on one spot.
  In all, the volunteers removed roughly 50 unhatched wood duck eggs from the half-dozen boxes.
  This is not uncommon for an area like the Celery Farm where breeding wood duck congregate. Female Wood ducks who can’t find a place to lay their eggs lay them in a box that’s already occupied.
  Last spring one female Wood duck tried to lay eggs in the owl box, but fortunately the opening wasn’t large enough for her to fit in.
    Since few people get to see the inside of a wood duck box after the end of a breeding season, I thought I would  take some photos.

   The eggs, needless to say, were extremely rotten.