Flapping sounds coming from a chimney usually means trouble for both the flapper and the homeowner. I heard a faint rustling noise near our fireplace two days ago, but it seemed to stop. Yesterday I heard it again, and decided to investigate.

A starling once came down the chimney, but then thankfully managed to get out on its own. A pair of them had been scouting out a nearby maple tree as a nesting spot, but I hadn’t seen them in a couple of days, so I guessed that might be our visitor.

First I hung an old bed sheet from the mantel to cover the fireplace opening because our two indoor cats would be of little help if a bird started flying around inside the house. There is a draft stopper in the fireplace to help make it less of an energy suck, so I removed that and then unscrewed the damper. It only opened a small way, and there was more fluttering, but no vocalization. I put a light in the fireplace and walked away for a while.

I returned a few minutes later and looked up inside. I could see a small beak, a rounded beak, unlike pointy song bird beaks. Could it be a small duck? A SMALL DUCK?!

The little duck seemed to be breathing hard, almost sighing, so I didn’t want to crank the damper more to see if I could open it enough to pull the duck out. The damper would have to be removed, though I had no idea if that was possible.

Turns out disassembling a screw-type damper is a pretty simple operation, with the most difficult part getting a large cotter pin unbent and removed. After I got the door free, a lot of dirt and bits of mortar and some fresh moss (for the duck nest, I assume) came raining down on me. My headlamp and gloves were quickly joined by a face mask and goggles as I tried to figure out how to get the door out of the way to grab the duck. I could now see her white stomach and tiny little webbed feet. She was wedged in.

Knowing a duck wouldn’t be able to fly much in the house, I took the sheet down and out of the way. She moved to one side of the chimney and I was able to turn the door enough to bring it down, and the duck dropped out. Before I could grab her, she took off, flying toward a window. She stopped, flew a bit further and landed on the kitchen counter. I scooped her up, quickly took her outside and she flew into the woods. I didn’t even get a photo as I just wanted her out of the house. Avian influenza is a possibility with wild birds, especially waterfowl, so I didn’t want to hang out with her.

Lots of sanitizing and bagging up of debris followed. Before reassembling the damper, I gave the opening a really good vacuuming to remove all the gritty bits, put the door back, attached the the worm gear and damper rod. It worked!

Our fireplace was a dud from the start, always producing slow, smoky fires. I asked the mason back soon after the house was built to check it out, but he said it must be the wood, must we the way we were making the fires, must be the air exchange unit, the house being too tight, and on and on. We had a fireplace and wood stove in our old cottage and I was pretty good at setting and lighting a fire, so felt confident I knew what I was doing. After a few messy and unsuccessful attempts at a crackling fire, it has mostly just sat unused.

As I tested the damper, I was surprised to find it now opens all the way where it used to only open about half way. So the smoky fires probably weren’t due to my lack of skill or wet wood or the house after all. It was poor workmanship. I think it just needed to be cleaned and the rod correctly aligned. Thanks to the wayward duck, we might be able to have proper fires!

If you haven’t seen wood ducklings jumping from their tree-cavity nest to the ground, search for a video. It’s pretty cute. Ducks are easily my favourite birds, but I never want to see one in my chimney ever again.