New York’s Annual Duck Parade
The uncommon is common
About New York’s annual duck parade… “It’s typical for female mallards to make nests and lay eggs in well-protected areas like high-walled courtyards. It’s also common at this time of year to see mama ducks leading hatchlings away from nesting areas to nearby bodies of water.
See also: Penguins arrested in sushi bar invasion.
“What isn’t so common is for a mama duck to use her bill to tap on a courtyard’s sliding glass door as if to say “Let me in!” and then parade her young down the hallway of a nursing home.” – Democrat & Chronicle
Sometime during the spring, a mother mallard will land in one of the building’s enclosed courtyards in advance of laying eggs. Soon after her ducklings hatch, she’ll want to move them to water, but she won’t be able to get them out of the courtyard because ducklings can’t fly until they’re at least a month and a half old. So, “She needs our help,” Johnston said, and will make that known by tapping “very insistently” on the courtyard’s only access point — a sliding glass door leading to the nursing home.
Marcia Greenwood
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Click to read about the annual duck parade…
The Line That Didn’t Land
I stood in the back of Good Shepherd Chapel on the evening of April 15, 2026, at the Steam Plant Demolition Town Hall, watching people adjust scarves and jackets before the meeting began. Benjamin Jones, President and CEO of RIOC, thanked us for attending and, without a pause, said he was “pleased to host tonight’s town hall on the city’s demolition of its steam plant.” The demolition, in other words, was not up for discussion.
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