The "green roof" at the Severn Savings Bank building in Annapolis certainly is attractive: a nice patio surrounded by lush green plants, with an expansive view. But for a duck?
A female mallard duck has taken up residence on the edge of the bank building's roof. Workers in the building on Westgate Circle fear she's sitting on eggs.
Their minds rush to worst-case scenarios of confused little ducklings plummeting five stories and having an unfortunate meeting with the harsh pavement below.
"Those babies are going to go right over the edge, if she has babies," said Nicole Donegan, vice president of marketing for Severn Savings Bank, who works on the second floor.
Jack Henley, who works for Hyatt Commercial Real Estate, said he noticed the duck about two weeks ago.
He and several others were in a fifth-floor conference room that overlooks the green roof.
"I saw the bush shaking and I was like, 'Why is that bush moving?' And a little duck popped out," he said.
The duck, which hasn't officially been named, has been sitting in her spot "literally for two weeks," Henley said. "She hasn't moved. There's a reason why."
The reason, Henley and others believe, is that she's sitting on eggs. She hasn't even moved when crows have come around in recent days.
Nobody actually has seen the eggs, though. The mama duck is keep close guard.
"She won't move off of the nest," said Robert Miller, an attorney with Hyatt & Weber. His office has windows overlooking the green roof, and he has been keeping close watch on the duck.
People who work in the building have been looking for a way to safely get the duck - and her ducklings, if she has them - off the roof.
Neither the Maryland Department of Natural Resources nor the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was able to offer much help.
The building workers now are hoping to connect with an agency or rescue group that might be able to safely move the brood to a more appropriate home.
They definitely don't want to attempt a rescue themselves. Miller noted that workers who maintain the green roof use harnesses to keep from tumbling off. It's definitely not a rescue for amateurs.
Doug Forsell, a wildlife biologist at the Chesapeake Bay Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said his agency doesn't have staff to do wildlife rescues.
Forsell said there's a chance the ducklings might survive a tumble down five stories, especially if their fall is cushioned by a tree or some shrubbery. Some waterbirds survive more treacherous entrances into the world.
But it might be a good idea to put a fence around the nest until the eggs hatch, he said, and then carefully move the birds to a safer location.
Mallards move their young into water within a day or two of hatching so the young ones can feed on insects, seeds and underwater vegetation.
Forsell said mallards often get into trouble when nesting and breeding. There are stories every year of mallard ducks and ducklings getting stuck in storm drains or stopping traffic on their way from nest to water.
"Every year we have gobs of incidents where they nest on boats or docks or next to swimming pools," Forsell said,
That said, he's never heard of a duck nesting on a roof before.
"Young birds in their first year are not that bright," he said.
