Yesterday we awoke to a nice surprise … the usually skittish and shy nature of the wood duck took an unusual turn when we found that 5 chicks had taken up temporary residence in the pool and were happily swimming around. As described in another of our blog posts the baby wood ducks are precocial and had probably hatched within the past 24 to 48 hours. They are now safely … at least to the extent that we can control … relocated to the beautiful koi pond at this New Hope bed and breakfast inn. There is no sign of the mother.

Sadly, very few wood duck chicks live to see adulthood … they are the targets of multiple predators including the blue heron, snapping turtles, racoons and more. To counter this natural predation the wood duck lays large numbers of eggs. We are hopeful that at least some of them will live to spread the news about the beauty of the pond and forest at this gem of a Bucks County lodging … and return year after year to add more family members.