It’s likely many Semiahmoo Peninsula residents have heard of South Surrey’s eagle cam.
It’s also quite possible that the barn-owl cams that went live three years ago, near the Serpentine Fen, aren’t unfamiliar either.
But what about the barn-owl cam that became a wood-duck cam? Or more accurately, an inadvertent, temporary wood-duck cam?
That’s exactly what’s rolling live today courtesy of Art Knapp Surrey’s ‘Dirt University.’
However, those who want to catch the newest stars of the show – which include at least seven ducklings that were born early this morning – will have to act quickly.
“They’re going to be gone by tomorrow,” said Lisa Finkle, who handles advertising for the store and is involved with conservation projects underway at the property.
The mother duck, said Finkle, began roosting in the barn-owl box – one of 12 whisky-barrel nests – about a month ago.
Finkle said she’s been advised that the duck’s arrival – which marked the first time that a wood duck has used one of the nesting boxes in the approximately 20 years since that program was started – is “very unusual.”
Particularly since the roost is about 30 feet off the ground.
It’s believed the mother may have been displaced by nearby habitat disturbance; such as a barn that was dismantled about two months ago.
In an effort to boost her ducklings’ odds of making it into the waters of the nearby Fen, Art Knapp’s Marty Vander Zalm has built a slide of sorts to soften their journey from the nest to the ground.
In other words, so they don’t jump to their deaths.
The only other concern is whether they’ll survive the journey across the road, Finkle said.
The live cam has a host of followers who’ve been eagerly watching the wood ducks’ story unfold.
Tune in at youtube.com