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Close watchers of the Central Duck-cam met the first of Stanley the duck’s new arrivals during the afternoon of May 22. Stanley welcomed a grand total of eight ducklings, who started exploring their new world and each other within hours of hatching.
Central Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator Kelly Selby and her team gave the new family some time to get settled in and venture beyond the nest site. On May 23, Selby carefully escorted the family to Stanley’s preferred location at Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain. According to the DEEP tracking device she wears, Stanley has returned nightly to the park to feed. You can watch our footage of the relocation and reunion here.
For the third spring running, Stanley, a female mallard, has chosen the same location on the Central campus to set up housekeeping and lay her eggs. The nesting area provides excellent shelter from predators and limited human interaction.
Stanley is one of several that were caught by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) at Stanley Quarter Park and tagged with GPS devices in recent years. DEEP is monitoring ducks as part of an initiative to assess mallards’ nesting success, including brood movement and habitat selection. DEEP dubbed Central’s visitor Stanley in a nod to her original location.
Stanley was first spotted on her nest this year in late April.