Life and death in my Wood Duck house

For past few years, I've worked to attract wood ducks to my yard. I hung Wood Duck house a couple years ago, but didn't have any luck the first year. Well, a blackbird did make a nest in it, but that was it.

I cleaned the old bird nest out last spring, and waited. Two pair of Wood Ducks actually came into the yard soon after. At least one female visited the box several early mornings. Her mate sat on the ground and watched. But, that was it. I thought the ducks had found one of the neighbors' boxes, and preferred it to mine. It was fun to see the colorful ducks in the yard, and considered the season a success. I hoped offspring from these neighboring ducks would return this year. (Click link for photo)

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Wood_Duck_dtl.html

This morning, I saw two pairs of Hooded Mergansers walking around the yard. These birds are equally appealing. The male with its black head with white spot is striking. The female has a punk rock look with mohawk looking tuft on the top of her head. (See photo at link)

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Hooded_Merganser.ht...

I found out these ducks also nest in trees. So, I went to clean out the house tonight. Wood Ducks and Mergansers seem to prefer clean sawdust or wood chips. Upon opening the house trap door, I found a perfectly formed nest of brown grass. I started cleaning out the old grass and ran into a dead animal. It was a frozen squirrel.

It hit the ground and I continued cleaning. One perfect -- but old -- unhatched egg came out. Then, a bunch of broken egg shells began to come out with the grass and twigs at the bottom.

The squirrel was in pretty good shape, and didn't look eaten or decayed. So, what happened?

Did the Wood Duck lay eggs and get chased away by a raccoon or another animal? Did she abandon the nest? Did all the eggs hatch except one?

I assume the squirrel came in last fall or winter to get out of the cold, and died there.

It is hard to tell what life and death story the box could tell. Whatever the case, the box is cleaned out and has a fresh batch of sawdust for the new season.

If you have Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers or other interesting ducks nesting in your yard and have stories about cleaning out an old house, please reply.