In exchange for access to archery shooting opportunities offered by the Nanaimo Fish & Game Club, the First Nanaimo Scout Troop has provided us with 6 new Wood duck nest boxes. The photo under the Read More link below shows Scouts Breanne Basfarache and Silas Woodford – along with Scout Leader Steven Basfarache – and the new boxes they constructed. And this is not the first time these active Scouts have helped Mother Nature. Last year, they constructed bird houses and bat boxes that successfully resulted in many new families of interesting and valuable local wildlife species.
Wood ducks arrive on breeding grounds in April and nest in pre-formed tree cavities made by tree diseases, fire scars, lightning, and cavity-making birds like pileated woodpeckers for nest sites. They also readily use artificial nest boxes like the ones built by the Scouts. Females lay 7-15 white-tan eggs which they incubate for an average of 30 days. The boxes built by the Scouts will be placed in and around local ponds this spring. Several other species of common ducks in our area like Goldeneyes and Mergansers are also cavity nesters, so it will be interesting to see who actually takes advantage of these new housing opportunities!!
Stay tuned for updates and photos that hopefully show successful parents along with the next generation of ducks that can thank our next generation of conservationists for putting in the effort to make a difference in local wildlife populations.
