Good Egg Bad Egg

i've intentionally held off on any duck updates because, well, i've kinda been holding my breath & hoping for the best.  i'm afraid that time is passed.
we did have a spark of success about 2 weeks ago (July 19th) when we saw mama swimming with 2 babies after we got home from work.  we didn't have our camera handy so had to run back inside & get it. by the time we got back out to the beach, this was the best we could get

she continued to swim across the river & disappeared around the island.  she left behind 4 eggs.  so we were a bit devastated that she'd abandoned the nest & remaining eggs, but like to think she knew best.  and hey, 2 babies!
HOWEVER, she came back the next day!  Alone! yep, we have no idea where the babies were/are.  we have not seen them since that day.  we kind of hope she's hidden them away or Dad is taking care of them somewhere, but that is unlikely.  she has been on those 4 remaining eggs ever since.
i did a little googling around week 2 & found that the average hatch time is 28 days after the last egg has been laid.  we don't know when that was, but today, Aug 1, it's unlikely those eggs are good.  she won't abandon the nest. my heart is broken. we wonder every day what happened to the 2 babies that did hatch & if there is any way possible the remaining 4 will - doubtful.  i like to think her instinct is best & maybe they will, but, again, doubtful.
for now, here's another close up from the day after we saw those 2 babies with her.  she still will let us get really close to her and the plants in the nest have grown so that she has great coverage.  you can see me trying to console myself.

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