Category: Special Edition

Author’s Note: Social media (Facebook to be exact) reminded me of a very special one-year anniversary: the day we discovered a nest of eggs in our backyard. This edition of “Throwback Thursday” (TT) commemorates an innocent Facebook post on the “Neighbors and Friends Facebook Group Page” that turned the town of West Hartford upside down for 4 days! Join me in a fun little trip down memory lane.

“Life is so full of unpredictable beauty and strange surprises.” No truer words could describe the last few weeks in a backyard of West Hartford – and on social media. A few weeks ago, my wife and I came home to find (more later on why that word is important) a mysterious nest of six eggs in our backyard. Yes, we are the “WeHa Nest of Eggs” people. Following a long winter and various nor’easters (or lack thereof), a yard clean-up crew inadvertently cleared away brush that had been concealing the nest of eggs. As you could imagine, we were surprised and perplexed about the who, what, and when. 

While my wife and I are admittedly nature novices (we still enjoy reading those tree markings on walks along the reservoir), we were sure that this nest needed to be re-concealed to protect against predators and the elements as mama was nowhere to be found. Though, we also recalled a caution about human scents potentially driving away nesting mothers, so decided to get a second opinion from our neighbors who happened to be outside. They too were puzzled. The next logical step, of course, was to pose the question to a larger audience of neighbors, and the Neighbors and Friends of West Hartford Facebook group came to mind. We took a quick picture of the nest, posted it on the webpage and asked for feedback on egg type and whether or not to re-cover. This is the part where words matter.

The next morning, I awoke to a text message from a friend and police officer in town that said “your WeHa egg post has more comments on it than the town budget article.”  And boy was he right. Within 24 hours, there were 190 comments ranging from guesses on the egg type, to humorous quips about preferring eggs “over easy”, ridiculous gifs of raptor eggs hatching, to serious comments about ensuring the nest was undisturbed (of course our intention). In my haste to post the picture and seek comments, I used the word “un-covered” instead of “found” when describing how the eggs were discovered, and some interpreted that to mean a careless invasion and disruption of the nest. Indeed, words matter and chose them carefully on social media. Fortunately, that afternoon, we came home to another egg (7), which confirmed that the nest was not disturbed and Mama returned. I immediately posted the good news (and picture) in the group thread and found an excited audience. 

The following morning, it was Groundhogs’ day all over again. Another egg (8), and another picture post to the group thread. An indication that this event was not a total joke was the comment, “I am in love with this story. Please keep us updated.”  We now had an obligation to the community. The guesses continued to flow — and thank you Mayor Cantor for posting a comparison picture of similar looking eggs to help solve the puzzle. We also appreciated the multiple suggestions for an “egg cam” (live feed) for the much-anticipated hatchings.

By the weekend, you guessed it, another egg (9), picture post, and an appreciation of where the whole a dozen of eggs thing comes from. And then it happened. We were sitting on the deck during the warmest part of the day, when all of a sudden a flying object buzzed past us, landing right next to the nest. Mama was home! We remained frozen, not wanting to make a sound, but carefully stood up and locked eyes with Mama… Duck…settling in on top of her eggs. We were so surprised that this first encounter was not photographed, but on a return trip, we had the Canon Rebel T4i ready to go.

The mystery was solved. Nine 9 eggs. One duck. Hundreds of neighbors engaged. Though the story may not be over as one follower suggested, “We are now all invested in the future ducklings,” so we may be headed to web cam land. I wonder what’s the best brand. Maybe I should ask for a second opinion on that Neighbors and Friends Facebook group!

BONUS SECTION-Part 2: What Happened to the Eggs?

That story is 100% true local (as local gets) news…for 4 days. Looking back, I wish I immediately purchased and set-up a live webcam so the followers could experience what was happening in my backyard at any time- especially, the hatching. Yes, the original article above lacks that information, as it didn’t happen for another 6 days. Here’s what we know; the day before the eggs hatched, my wife saw a green mallard near the nest that morning, but didn’t think much of it. When we arrived home from work, the eggs hatched and there was no sign of the ducklings, mama -or dad(?). We hoped it was a hatching and not an attack by a predator. I am happy to confirm it was the former. A week or so later, I was getting the mail and a neighbor drove by and stopped to chat. In the middle of our conversation – and out of the blue, she remembered, “Oh my God, I never told you, I saw a duckling in your driveway about a week ago!” Somehow that information was never relayed back to us (we’re all busy, right?), but it was an unprompted thought, so I am going with it as “what happened” to the ducklings. It’s a happy memory of a brief, yet crazy time in a little town in Connecticut.