A mother duck has set up her nest and laid eggs in the middle of campus at an elementary school in Rowland Heights, giving students a front-row look at nature for the next few weeks.
The fowl was discovered in a planter at Killian Elementary, located at 19100 E. Killian Ave.
The school has set up a partial enclosure to help protect the duck, now nicknamed "Daisy," fifth-grade teacher Jackie Ketheart said Thursday.
"I was concerned for her safety, having 650 elementary school children here, so I contacted many wildlife agencies just to try to figure out what the best thing to do would be for her, trying to get some advice to help her out and have the most success with her and her clutch," Ketheart said.
After the ducklings hatch, it will take an estimated six to eight weeks for them to feather out and fly away, said Carol Chrysong of the Lucky Duck Rescue & Sanctuary, which is assisting the school in caring for the birds.
"We don't want to separate her from her mate, we don't know where she came from and we want the whole family to be able to fly off in its entirety," Chrysong said.