Sunday Night Soother
by digby
To center yourself for this coming week:
How the ducklings got onto a 6th floor balcony of a Library of Congress building is a mystery.
But the dozen baby ducks and their mother were rescued Tuesday afternoon with the help of the U.S. Capitol Police. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden posted a picture of the ducklings on Twitter.
On Tuesday, around 4 p.m., a Library of Congress staffer noticed the ducklings and their mother go past a window of the 6th floor balcony of the James Madison Memorial Building, which is one of the library’s facilities, said Gail Osterberg, the library’s director of communications.
There is no water around, so it seemed a bit “out of the ordinary,” said Osterberg.
The staffer went to the librarian’s office and got the chief of staff who has access to the balcony. The two went out on the balcony and saw the ducklings and their mother. The birds were trying to get over the walls of the balcony but couldn’t, Osterberg said.
“Clearly it was not a safe environment for them,” Osterberg said.
U.S. Capitol Police was called. Officers and others were able to safely coax the ducks into two boxes, Osterberg said.
She said they did not find a nest in the balcony area, but staffers believe the mother duck flew up there and gave birth in some nearby shrubbery.
“She flew up there and had her babies in some bushes, overlooking the Capitol,” Osterberg said. “It is a very nice, peaceful spot. Away from the hustle, bustle.
“And then she was trying to figure out what to do from there.”
In yet another duck story, a Republican asshole bitched about some little ramps that were built for baby ducks at the Washington Mall
If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be government waste. pic.twitter.com/JKgabZ47O5— Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) May 15, 2017
The heartless creep didn’t know the story, of course. Not that he would care if he did:
The office of the Architect of the U.S. Capitol released a statement this week saying four “broods” ― or families ― of ducks live in the pool, including their newly hatched ducklings. The two ramps were installed as part of a collaboration with City Wildlife, a local nonprofit. The group’s president, Anne Lewis, told The New York Times that the ducklings could die without the ramps.
“Ducklings get into the water ― often helped there by visitors ― and then can’t get out because of the high curb at the water’s edge,” Lewis told the newspaper. “They will drown from exhaustion or die of starvation unless they have a way to get out of the water.”
It seems to have worked. The ducklings, who have become social media sensations, are already using the ramps: