Duck chooses a holy nesting spot

Parish priest Fr Raphael Lobo in front of the duck's nest (hidden by the shrubbery) alongside the statue of Our Lady.

by PETER GRACE
AUCKLAND — A duck nesting close to heavy car and pedestrian traffic in Auckland must have felt safe next to a statue of Our Lady.
The duck nested outside St Mark’s Church in Pakuranga, close to where cars drove past and many hundreds of people a week walked near. According to parishioner Mary Pepping, Sunday Mass attendance is 1700, and even weekday Masses get about 100 in the congregation.
A lot of people are in the habit of visiting the statue of Our Lady, Mrs Pepping said. “And [the duck] made her nest right there. . . . She was really, really close to the statue.”
However, probably fortunately, the duck and her eggs were quite well hidden by shrubbery.
Then parish priest Fr Raphael Lobo phoned and said the eggs were hatching.

Parish priest Fr Raphael Lobo in front of the duck's nest (hidden by the shrubbery) alongside the statue of Our Lady.


Mrs Pepping said she phoned Bird Rescue, who said probably the best thing the church could do was to put up a sign asking people to keep away. The duck would
probably move off with her ducklings about 24 hours after hatching.
In the event, the mum headed off into the school grounds, behind the church, with her three ducklings.
“We were touched by the fact that she felt safe close to our church,” Mrs Pepping said.

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