I have more experience with geese, and they seem to wait until they have "enough" before they start sitting. The freezing temps are a concern, tho. Not sure how to check if they'd been frozen or not, unless they are cracked. Maybe throw the cracked ones out and keep the rest? The worst that will happen is that they will just get broken later if they rot and make a stinky mother duck! This can/will happen even if there have been no freezing temps, as some eggs simply won't be viable for whatever reasons, and will break anyway. Part of the whole process, and the mothers are pretty good at cleaning up the bad eggs, eating the broken ones, etc.. and taking a bath. Make sure she has a good little tub/kiddie pool with fresh water to wash up in!

Well never seen a vulture but looks like they can zero in on anything dead so I guess before they see it they smell it. And I agree birds could care less if you touched their eggs or babys. We used to take baby crows for pets and Mama crow still looked after the rest. When birds are banded the parents don't just leave.

We were lucky enough to have chickadees use the nest box in our yard, and from as far as we can tell the babies have successfully fledged (we didn't see it, but I saw a parent bring food one morrning and they were gone by evening). We didn't take the nest box down yet and have seen a chickadee sticking its head near the opening. How likely is it another set of chickadees would use the box? If it's possible is it better to remove the old nest? Thanks. -- Lori

Our nest boxes are at a pond that is similar to yours. We occasionally have Starlings tying to nest in the box, but I just open the door to the box for a day or two and they find other places to nest. The ducks are also pretty aggressive and hold their own. Make sure your box is not so high that you can not check it. Also make sure your box has a door on the back and not the top, so that you can see in when you need too. I do not know when your nesting season is, but for here in lower Michigan it is early spring for the first nesting and early to mid summer for a second nesting. Good Luck