Two+? Mergansers have hatched!

This morning I was startled to see merganser ducklings in the South nest box!. Yesterday morning when I checked, two of the eggs were slightly cracked (pipped) but the other seven were completely smooth and unbroken. Pipped eggs are a sign that hatching will occur within 24 to 48 hours. In the past some eggs have always shown this indication before others, but I expected others to show this sign today and maybe all hatch tonight. I saw the eggs yesterday evening and none had hatched then.

All 9 eggs were in the nest when incubation so they’ve had the same development time. Thus I doubt that the others are late; perhaps the other 7 are infertile.

Another guess – lots of guessing – is that they will jump tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. Every time in the past when ducklings hatch overnight they have spent another night in the nest before leaving and in many years of watching I’ve never seen them leave except in the morning. If so I’ll have the outside camera set up then. But … we’ll see; the ducklings look strong already.

Even after years of observation, they still catch me by surprise.

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