The foxes at midnight

A stifled quack outside our bedroom window and the sound of crunching leaves got me out of bed to check on Mabel in the middle of the night. I looked outside and discovered two foxes creeping towards Mabel's nest. They froze as soon as they saw me. I went to the front door to shoo them away, and not long after I heard some angry quacking from the neighbor's yard, and then they snuck back toward her nest. Mabel may have gotten away, but the foxes took all her eggs. She came back to lay more eggs the first time the fox did this. I'll watch to see if she comes back again. She may have decided it's just not safe enough. Sigh....

I scared Mabel out of her nest when I was taking pictures. Here's the best look at her in the grass.

Mabel and her eggs are still there. Mabel is a Mallard duck who has chosen our front yard for her nest. She's nestled in the Junipers very close to our front door, and the dried leaves give her lots of cushioning for her eggs, and superb camouflage. Trying to see her in the pictures? In the top photo, her beak is pointing to the right, and her tail is to the left. In the next photo, she's facing the opposite way. In the last photo are 7 of her 8 eggs.