Wood duck housing and placement

[brettski]

I am in the process of building a 5 acre pond in the midwest as part of a private nature preserve. I am leaving about .5 - .75 acre shallow, 4 ft and less, that will be a combo of open water and running up into existing timber to create a marshy wetland zone. I just completed construction of 4 separate Wood duck boxes and want to place them correctly.
This pond is completely surrounded by timber, but one end has an open area of about .75 ac for a building site. It will be a few years before a home is constructed. This building site, tho, is about 300 ft away from this wetland zone. For now, it is barren.
So, my questions, if I may....
a) how close can the boxes be placed to each other, or, how would you place them geographically.
b) I hear that the holes should face away from other boxes so the hens do not see other hens...?
c) the water has not yet arrived at a level to cover this zone; I can still do work out there. Should I sink poles in concrete or is that overkill. I would like a long-term installation that can be maintained from a jon boat.
d) should I place them all over the water, or attach one or two to the trees that will be at the edge but underwater?
e) any other tips?
f) and, lastly....I plan on blue bird houses, bat houses, and some mallard nexting tubes....your thoughts here?

[brettski]

OK, I guess it's my turn again....I will reply to my own post. My only desire here is to assist the propagation of birds and other wildlife, so this input may help others or spark further creativity to the same end.
As noted in my original post, we completed the construction of the WD nesting boxes. I nixed the use of cedar due to the cost. We used pine. In retrospect, the cedar investment might have been worth it. It provides 2 very distinct advantages: no need to apply a time consuming finish and considerably lower weight. Regardless, the pine nesting boxes are completed.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/11-2-06013small.jpg
*** IMPORTANT NOTE *** In the above pic, the galvanized hardware cloth ladder exhibits a common mistake that is a potential duckling death trap. The top mounting screw in the middle is OK, but another mounting screw at each top corner is a MUST! What happens: over time, the mother hen, during entry and exit, can begin to fold the hardware cloth over. This creates a duckling death trap. I ultimately removed the center screw, moving it to one upper corner and added another screw at the other upper corner. Whew!
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After finishing the boxes, I came upon an internet friend that is savvy in the WD propagation arena. He pointed me to a very helpful website: Wood Duck Society (http://www.woodducksociety.com) . They provide excellent guidance and some great photos, including the elusive "hatchling bailing outta the nest for the first time" photo.
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Because I need to support these heavier boxes firmly AND I want everything to be installed long-term, I used treated 4 x 4's, embedded in concrete in holes in the ground. I fabricated a hinge assembly to ease maintainence.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/12-29-06020small.jpg
When the pond fills in, the normal pool will reside 2 feet below the tops of the bottom pole section. This will put the nest boxes well above flood potential. The predator guards have not yet been engineered or installed yet. I still have a couple of months to execute that absolute necessity.
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A detail on the hinge assembly. The couplers are treated 2 x 4's x 24" long, one at each side. All hardware is stainless steel.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/12-29-06032small.jpg
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The boxes are mounted on tilt blocks to give the ducklings a little help when it comes time to ascend the hardware cloth ladder inside that leads to the hole.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/12-29-06034small.jpg
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We installed a total of 8 poles, spaced out along the timberline of the wetland area. The normal pool will run up into the existing timber, totally covering the other fish structure.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/12-29-06069smalladjusted.jpg
4 of the poles have received WD boxes; the other 4 poles will be used for other/future structures. Pole #5 is already slated for a bat house.

[do re meep meep]

Wow, that's a truly impressive project! A comment on a tiny, tiny detail on the hardware cloth 'ladder'. I was making some special purpose bird feeders out of hardware cloth and was concerned about the pointy ends of the cut off wires.

The solution that I found was not to cut the wires short (i.e. as close as possible at the solder joints) because the pointy ends could still hurt the birds, particularly if the solder joint comes loose and the loose and pointy wire end bends away from the surface. For that reason, I cut the wires long and bent the ends to inaccessible locations. In your case, that would be bending and hammering the pointy ends into the wood panel.

In addition, the top edge which is exposed to much brushings could be covered with a narrow strip of wood screwed onto the wood panel. Of course, this could be done for the side and bottom edges too, if only for the sake of securing the hardware cloth snugly onto the wood panel to prevent toes and toe nails from getting stuck between the hardware cloth and the wood panel.

After all is said and done, I wonder if it would not be easier to quickly chisel a 'ladder' in the wood panel. With an electrical router, this would be a job of a few seconds.

[brettski]

Thanks for the kudos...and the tip. Actually, I got the same input from the knowledgeable chap that helped me with other peripheral details of the boxes. Unfortunately (somewhat), I had already constructed them when I made his acquaintence. To my own self-congratulatory credit, tho, I did anticipate a potential issue with the sharp edges and put the very smooth factory edge of the wire at the top. I also filed the other edges, pressing and running my finger along them as a sacrificial test. No cuts/blood...good to go.

[do re meep meep]

BTW, did you talk to government agencies, or regional naturalist's clubs, or similar, who have handled and are managing projects of this size? The typical backyard birder that hang out here, is completely dwarfed. You may get better advice from more pertinent people, and even so, I would think that you will be experimenting for the next decades, which is part of the fun, I guess.

[brettski]

Yes, now that I have taken some time to further peruse the data and communications within the BF, it is becoming apparent that perhaps this is not the best platform for the type of expertise that I seek. This is a big one for my little world; I am sinking in alot of time, effort, and $ to see it thru the best I can. That is why when I came across such a heavily poplulated forum as BF, I thought I may have stumbled onto another nugget of information gold.
Yes, I have been extremely active in tapping governmental sources and other professional services. It is, indeed, an entirely different world at this level...kinda cool. I am blessed to have the opportunity.
Are you, or any of the other BF posters, aware of www opportunities with a focus on private development of small acreage natural preserves?

[do re meep meep]

Sorry, I myself can't help you further, although others here may be able to give you pointers. I have joined BF not long ago myself, and as one of the humblest backyard birders of them all, I must say that I like BF very much!

[Isurus]

any chance you could share a pic or two of the mallard tubes - I'm struggling to envisage quite what they are.

The wood duck boxes look awesome, hopefully they are as appreciated by the ducks...

[brettski]

Hi Isurus. HNY to ya! You too, do re meep meep.
I did my in depth studies on Wood Duck nesting boxes, only. I approach these projects, trying to focus on one or two facets at a time. I haven't spent alot of time studying the mallard nesting structures, tho I did bump into numerous different designs. One that intrigued me and seemed very simple was touted as very successful by the website hosting it...hmmmm. I borrowed a pic, per your request:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/brettski69/hh-final.jpg
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You can get the details at the Delta Waterfowl website (http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/ddp/henhouses/build.php) .
Since this structure appears to be relatively light, I foresee it as further down on the fabrication list. If the water level beats me, no biggie; this one looks favorable for pounding into the pond bottom from inside a jon boat.
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Once I install predator guards on the WD boxes, I move my attention to selecting, constructing, and installing a big ol' bat house on one of the 4 extra remaining 4 x 4 poles. (Oh yeah; let's not forget the 8 little Chickadee/Wren houses we fab'd and installed along the nature trails...those were a bit easier due to size)