The saga of the female duck who'd built a nest in the parking lot here at Quick Country 96.5 has come to an end.

Looks like we're empty nesters, alright...
Looks like we're empty nesters, alright...
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About a month ago, we noticed a female mallard duck had built a nest right outside the back door of our studios here in downtown Rochester. A quick online search told us she was probably sitting on (incubating?) between 6 and 10 eggs, and within a month or so, they'd hatch and the entire duck family would be off on their own.

Further online research (so it has to be true, right?) told us the female duck would only leave her nest twice a day to search for food. So, in order to help her out, I brought in some crackers and would toss a handful her way when I came into and left work each day. However, I was then told giving our feathered water-fowl crackers wasn't necessarily the best for them, nutritionally speaking.

However, today, when I came in, I noticed the nest was empty, and there were several broken egg shells laying around. Which no doubt means mom and her new brood are out and about somewhere. I'm hoping they all made it to wherever it was they were going okay. Seeing as the closest 'natural' area to our studios is a couple of blocks away at Soldiers Field Park, mom and her new ducklings probably had quite the  journey getting there. I hope they made it okay-- the traffic downtown can be kind of challenging, and that's even when you're in a car. And now, I guess it's official: we're empty nesters. And, just like when your kids leave home, it'd be nice if they stopped back or called once in awhile to let us know how they are...

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