While monitoring the nest boxes at Bues pond this morning, I discovered this western Screech Owl has taken up residency in one of our wood duck nesting boxes. For as many years as we have had the boxes in that area, we have had one of these little gals as a tenant. Coincidentally, they have always chosen the plastic boxes over the wooden for their nesting period. During the wintering season, we will find evidence of them stashing food supply in the wooden boxes.

With the threat of winter weather in Cache Valley, we officially pulled the plug on Saturday mornings WOW work day. With so many project locations needing attention, we kept a skeleton crew of students from Utah State’s Wildlife Society, and made tracks to get several key locations up to speed. As we pulled onto our first project site of the day, students were treated to a couple of hens standing on top of the boxes enjoying the sunshine that was peeking through. As we parked the trucks, several pairs blew of the near bye creek, hens squealing a nervous tone as they departed. Students are always eager to have a chance at hands-on-field-work, and getting to play with wood duck nests is a premium. We quickly paired up and headed in different directions, Dr Koons took one side and I led out to the other. Having checked only a handful of nests, we flushed a hen from a box labeled as JA 3.
Inside, we discover 14 eggs, aging them at day 7-8 in incubation. This box (JA 3) has successfully produced a clutch of wood ducks every year since it was enlisted in the program (2009).

Several boxes later, we were able to observe eggs from a large nest that contained 27 eggs. Candling the eggs, we were able to identify that there were various stages of incubation in the nest, indicating that this nest was subject to dump-nesting (multiple hens laying eggs in one box).

On another project, we observed a hen that was flying with an egg in her bill. In this, we quickly determined this was a golden opportunity to mark her eggs, lending to the chance these eggs may show up in another nest box. Hens will sometimes relocate their nests.

Upon inspection of her nest, there was evidence that an egg had been broken in the hens nest. Some times hens will fight over a box and eggs can be broken during these intense fights.

Late in the afternoon, we had brought the third project to a close, posting for new boxes in place of a series of tired boxes that had fallen victim of branch damages in high winds.

At the end of the day, we had only covered 45 boxes on four different projects and counted nearly 80 wood duck eggs. We has also put another 12 boxes into the WOW nesting program.

On Saturday, April 21, round 2 of Logan’s Wood Duck Days will kick off, meeting in the parking lot of USU’s Wildlife building at 9 am.

Joel Draxler of Cache Valley, guides the youth of Mount Logan Middle School in the Discovery Program.

The students were introduced to hands on conservation, where they floated some of Utah’s most robust wood duck producing habitat, the Bear River. Along the way, students would stop and inspect some of the areas top producing nesting boxes in the valleys wood duck nesting program.

Students in the Discovery Program also build and placed several nesting boxes that will be included in the WOW Nesting Program.

Jacob Peart, of Sandy, Utah, goes all out on his Eagle Scout Service Project, building a total of 20 wood duck box kits. These kits were later used as a part of the WOW program and it’s involvement at the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival in May, at the Davis County Fair Grounds.

Children participating in the GSLBF would have the opportunities to assemble one of these WOW ESSP boxes. These boxes were later taken to the field and appropriately places for wood duck usage.

Eagle Scout Service Project #64

Jacob Abrams Completes His WOW ESSP!!!

It’s not very often that we see a young man tackle his Eagle Scout Service Project (ESSP) at the age of twelve years old. Jacob Abrams completed his requirements with the WOW program for his ESSP in less than 30 days from contacting me…WOW!!! Go Jacob….Go Troop 750!!!

Jacob has committed to doing a little write up, explaining the details of this service project; We will then post this story, along with some pictures and a short YouTube video.

Hats off to this young man and his supporters for contributing twelve boxes to the Wild Over Wood (WOW) Duck Nesting Program.

Cheers,

Carl B Taylor