Secret nests

GI Jane, our female Muscovy, has been disappearing for hours at a time.  She's always around for her daily sprinkling of feed in the morning, but every day she vanishes from sight for a few hours in the afternoon and evening.  We looked ALL OVER the property for her hidden nest.  We looked in the giant stack of hay in the barn where the chickens had been laying eggs, along the banks of the stream, in the smokehouse... she was nowhere to be seen. 

One day last week, Hubbybunch had a project requiring some lumber.  We have a stack of scrap wood in the top half of the barn.  It's a tricky spot to get to, requiring that we climb the ladder to the hay loft, walk tight-rope style across a wooden beam and climb up onto a platform about 12 feet above the floor where we have the lumber stashed.  Wouldn't you know it, THAT is where Jane decided to make her nest.

Pretty cozy, right??  In the Spring we'll have to let her hatch out a clutch of eggs, she looks like she has the whole Mommy thing down pretty well already!