Make Way for West Side Ducklings
with help from students at p.s. 166 on west 89th street, five little ducklings made their way from the shade of a schoolyard evergreen bush to a lake in central park, near west 100th street. last month, a wild female mallard duck unexpectedly chose to lay six eggs in the school's reading garden, bringing students a rare wildlife education experience.
garo tekeyan, the school's science consultant, and james mitchell, the office administrator, fenced off a nesting area around the bush with grass sod to prevent the eggs from rolling away.
on may 14, the eggs hatched and five fuzzy ducklings tested their wobbly webbed-feet-luckily, on school grounds.
tekeyan brought them a wading pool and stacked a few bricks up to its rim to make an easy entry. less than a week later, the wild bird fund transported the legion of yellow ducklings in a carrier to their new home in central park.