There was snow cover with rain in the forecast for today. By noon most of the snow is gone. Yesterday was to be the last day....so I loaded up my goose decoy sled with a ladder and bucket with a couple of screw drivers, a hammer and some fresh bedding, a ski pole and my camera. It was time to clean out a wood duck house.

I was certain the ice would be safe, but a ski pole would probe the path. For safety concerns, I walked around the pond to the far shore. Even after a recent thaw, my North Dakota marsh pole (a ski pole) revealed the ice was thick. It wasn't long before the roof was off and last year's nesting debris was removed. There were adult feathers, a single pocket indicating only one chick, no egg shell fragments and one sterile egg. It wasn't long before the roof was back on and ready for "tenants". Hopefully, there will be a better hatch this spring.
 
I walked back directly across the pond this time.

"equipment sled"


"roof off"

 
"nesting debris"

 
"clean & ready"

 
"the short cut"