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| Friday, July 25, 2008 |  |
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Call her the Mother's Day mallard. Whether clever or just daffy, one beautiful bird has made her home seven storeys up in a lakefront condo roof planter – laying four shiny eggs for the day reserved especially for mom. Ane Christensen and hubby John McClusky, who own the downtown Toronto townhouse condo, were amazed to discover they weren't empty nesters anymore. "Why would a duck fly seven floors up in the air to build a nest?" asked Christensen, who has two children and two grandchildren. "It's just so strange, and it's not duckling friendly." Christensen spotted two lonely eggs in the garden box Saturday, when she went to plant herbs. Not sure if they were abandoned, she returned Sunday to find four eggs and two mallards, in duckie love. It's less a bird-brained choice than one might think: Sirens and whistles to scare fowl at the nearby Island Airport make the bird sanctuary next door a less-than-ideal nesting spot. Lee Oliver, a spokesperson for the Toronto Humane Society, agreed the mallard's choice was somewhat unusual. "Ducks normally nest on the ground or next to a tree – but not in the tree," he said. "But it's also not surprising, because they'll look for a place where the nest will be warm. The seventh floor is a place where they'll get a lot of sunlight." Still, Christensen and McClusky fret the nest won't be home sweet home when the babies hatch. "I don't know how she's planning to do this, but she must have fallen in love with the condo," she said. The duo plan to purchase a kiddie pool and build a ramp down to the floor for the arriving little quackers. But the couple hopes a concerned group with proper expertise will come to the family's assistance. "It really would be fun to raise ducks," Christensen said, "but I'm sure our neighbours wouldn't want their decks to become poop decks."
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