I got to start and end my day doing the feeding rounds of the ducks with Duane, clearly the birds' favorite human. I got to see a small gang of Laysan ducks with their distinctive white eye rings. They were eager to feed on the mix of wheat and duck pellets that Duane cast into their pen. My favorites are the white-faced whistling ducks, who give a joyful chorus of whistles when they see Duane and the cart approaching.  In addition to catering, Duane checks for any problems with the birds. There's one male goose with a drooping wing that later they find has been broken, perhaps by doing wing battle with another male. It's that time of the year for fighting for dominance. He points out a nene that's in love with a swan goose; not a welcomed pairing here where they strive to keep breeds from hybridizing.

Phoebe, with whom I will be working, shows me around the aviculture pens and duckery. A few nene goslings are huddled in the warmth of the heat lamp in one brooder. Soon the dozens of brooding pens will be filled with hatchlings.  In the incubator room she shows me one nene gosling pipping out. It has made its way over 1/3 around the perimeter of the egg, and gives soft peeps through the 1/4-inch line it's breaking with its bill. It's the first hatching I have seen in real life. We look at the dozens of pens for breeding and rearing birds. In one she points out a clump of grass where a koloa duck is nesting. Phoebe also takes me to their isolation pens where there are two lots of birds waiting to be added to the collection. They'll be quarantined for a few weeks to make sure they don't bring any new diseases into the collection.

In the afternoon I do the rounds again with Duane. The west wind has picked up and ruffles the water in the ponds. We move along faster. I see at least ten mallard matings in that time. Mallards are ubiquitous here, flying in to feed and enjoy the ponds. They try to scare off mallards with a hand-held white flag. I see anywhere from two to five drakes chasing a hen. Only mallards mate in this brutal way and Duane reports that koloa and Laysan ducks are not exempt, so they try to keep a high ratio of females to males to keep the females from being overwhelmed.