Random baby photos and Pekin news

Seems like babies are everyone and those that don't have babies are getting ready for them.  Here are some random bird shots I took today.

First, we start with two killdeer doing courtship.  This first one, though, seemed a little masculine, but was doing bonding chirps with the other one that was obviously male.  So, I think this one might a female.  Her head is a little round, too, males are a little more square.  I think this might be Peanut, Smudge's sister.  But, I'm not sure as I haven't seen Peanut in over a year:

Here is the male who is definitely masculine:

I found out that there are three babies in the osprey nest.  The mom (on the right), likes to keep him in the center of the nest as he's a bit smaller than the other two:

Here is dad taking a bath.  He had a fish in his talons, too.

Here is a beautiful male gadwall with a mallard duckling in front of him.  The duckling seems to be admiring his beauty:

A little duckling eating food off the water surface:

There were four mallard ducklings in this spot, overall.  Two of the ducklings were much larger than the other two.  There are two reasons for this.  I've noticed male ducklings go through a growth spurt between one and three weeks of age.  Females eventually catch up at about four weeks old.  Another reason is that the bigger ducklings may be hybrid with Pekins and other large domestic ducks.  Or, it could be genetic differences.  The large ones are almost out of gull-eating size, but the smaller ones are still at risk:

Mom with three ducklings:

A big duckling and a small one:

here they are again:

Two smalls and a big duckling:

Mom with a small and big duckling:

Mom with the biggest duckling:

I also saw these slightly younger ducklings hidden under a tree near some reeds:

Here's a photo of Rubber Band:

And, her three brothers:

I thought this was Bumblefoot, at first, having a hormone problem and getting a curly feather.  He/she even quacked a little.  But, Bumblefoot has a sore on her right foot, not her left.  I'm not sure if Bumblefoot was even there anymore and may have passed on.  One Pekin was missing from that group.

Mrs. Pekin is still alive, but in bad shape.  I don't think I saw Mr. Pekin today, either.  There were two Pekins missing for a while now.  And, today, Cow was missing.  Both Cow and Bumblefoot were seen last Tuesday (I can't confirm Bumblefoot as I hadn't actually gone to her spot, but I did see Cow).  Here's a photo of Mrs. Pekin: