I just googled slime mold and found a photo that looks exactly like what I have. To answer your question about how often I water... 3x/wk for 18 min. BUT, we have had an unusual amount of fog for the last 2 months. Constant, constant, constant endless gray. Thankyou so much for your reply, Janet

I hope you have a whole nest full soon! TeresanMark

I agree, plllog, there are old eggs and there are OLD eggs. Floating eggs doesn't necessarily mean they are spoiled, only that they are very old. If you want to crack one to see, go ahead, but if they're all floating around on top of the water, I'd pitch them instead. My eggs are more like today's eggs and last week's eggs, LOL. The ones at the grocery are already a month or so old by the time they get to the store, then they sit there until sold, then they sit in your refrigerator. Old eggs can be ancient given that time frame. There have been several studies and experiments done to determine how old is too old for an egg. Most found that an egg kept in the refrigerator for 6 months is still safe to eat, it's just not very good. The white gets runny, the yolk gets flat, it loses flavor. They seldom spoil, but they do dry out, according to my Ag Agent. And I leave fresh eggs, unwashed, sitting on the counter when I'm out of room in the refrigerator, and that's OK too. They'll age/spoil faster, they keep best when refrigerated, but leaving a dozen eggs on the counter overnight certainly won't cause them to spoil. Washing them, though, or leaving boiled eggs on the counter, that's a definitely problem. Washing eggs removes the protective coating that prevents contaminants from entering through the porous shell. I wash mine right before I use them. Annie

I used my fingers OJ, and with one on each hand that makes two! LOL I think I read in the info on the right that it will be 2 eggs and then incubation. I assume that means only 2, but I could be wrong. I was surprised at the length of time between #1 and #2 and the fact that she was sitting on that first egg most of the time inbetween. It seems to me that the first would hatch sooner. We had mallards that chose our front flower bed for nesting at our previous house. They spent 2 weeks laying an egg each day and then she sat on the nest for 4 weeks. They all hatched at the same time. Before the next day the mother mallard had that string of ducklings follow her to the river. She didn't even lead them around the end of a ledge. She had those tiny little hatchlings climb up a 4-5 inch cement edge and then drop 2 feet down on the other side. From there they waddled behind mama about 400 feet to the river. That mama went at HER speed and we laughed at those little ones running like mad to keep up. The ducks are safer in the water. That's why they go so soon. I wonder if that RUN to keep up with mama is to build their lungs for in the water. Unfortunately lots of the little ones get grabbed by turtles in the water. I don't recall ever seeing more than 2 ducklings, from each family, surviving that first summer. Thank you, Nanny. I need to read all that.