Killdeers, Phoebes and Finches (and Ducks!)

Cloudy day. Louie and his ducks

2012-02-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

Juvenile Cormorant

First thing I took a photo of was a juvenile cormorant with his whitish neck and belly.

In the photo below is Buffy. He's been treated as an outcast lately and gets chased around a lot.

Lesser scaup are getting ready for their spring migration.

Louie has been acting really strange and swimming around in unusual areas. Here he is with Big Daddy (AKA: Cinnamon, Paprika) in a weird spot over where the swans used to swim by a big drainage pipe in Padre Bay. He's just slowly swimming around the edge of the lake making his way around to the other side. For some reason, he doesn't like crossing over very deep water.

He likes to herd and direct the ducks:

Update on Baby Gull:

I heard from a staff member at the lake that they received an email from Project Wildlife stating that a patient they brought in had died. The staff member said that they hadn't taken in anything for a long time before Baby Gull and assumed it was the gull. They did not email me, however, and I am not 100% sure that this was Baby Gull, but it probably was. The other juvenile western gull is still at the lake begging from his mom.

Tijuana River Estuary

2012-02-05T18:20:00.000-08:00

Today, I took a bird walk down to the Tijuana River Natural Esturarine Research Reserve.

We saw several northern harriers, males and females. Here's a couple pictures of a female:

Northern Harrier Female

There was also a white-tailed kite, but it was too far away to get a good photo of.

We also saw some curlews.

Long Billed Curlew

Curlews and Willets

A light-footed clapper rail came out into the sunlight.

Light-footed clapper rail

Some teal and ducks:

Green-winged teal

Mallards

A few photos

2012-02-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

4 ballfield killdeer

I took a few photos today, nothing special. I did see four or five killdeer at the lake. I couldn't really ID them, but it looked like two males and two females. I think one was Shy's mate and the others were Shy's mom and Dad. I'm thinking the smallest killdeer might be Miracle or her sibling. That would explain why Shy's mate is there, probably to watch over her.

Hurt wing gets attacked:

I wasn't going to check on Cinnamon, but I'm glad I did as I found one of her boyfriends attacking Hurt Wing, the duck with the damaged wing (that was probably hurt in the same way it was being damaged today). The male was three times bigger than her and she sounded like she was in a lot of pain and tried to get away. I got them to stop and she was able to get away. He then attacked another female who could fly away. A third female wasn't even bothered by him.

Here she is, not even grateful that I saved her. She flapped her wings and most of her flight feathers were completely torn. If she could fly before, she can't fly now. She swam off with her more normal-sized boyfriend.

Here is the perpetrator. He's usually a pretty nice duck, but today he was a butt-head.

I caught Jill returning from where Louie was this morning. Of course, she had a chaperon, one of the Canada geese, so I don't know if anything happened. She seemed to be doing a "swim of shame". Louie won't follow her across the lake, he seems scared to go over there.

Louie is acting weird and seemed to be following or herding a bunch of large ducks, mostly Cinnamon's Twin and her boyfriends, into an area where I've never seen geese (but where the swans often went). The ducks went into the brush and Louie followed, cooing.

And, finally, here's Bigboi, sleeping in the water with the coots. I think he knows he blends in very well with the coots.

Early in the morning

2012-02-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

I took some early morning pictures at the lake this morning. There are people who come and feed the birds right before sunrise, so they get into one big group. I just hope nobody gets smooshed and hope the ducklings will be OK later on. But, the birds have been getting fed there for years.

Spoonface (Bossy)

Female wood duck

Jill the goose

Pepper

Quacker and her boy

Three Musketeers

Cinnamon Teal

Juvenile western gull

The turkey vulture below must have slept under one of his friends. He came down to the lake to wash up, but was nervous of all the people around.

Jill can fly!

2012-01-30T11:05:00.000-08:00

Pollux's mate in the ballfields

Came to the lake and heard Louie and the Canada geese making a ruckus. I thought that Louie and Picked On were fighting, but then I saw Jill moving away from the area with two Canada geese as chaperons. I think she came over and is considering Louie as a mate as it is the beginning of the season. Then, the two Canada geese started flying and so did Jill! She only got about two feet above the water, but she flew most of the way. Never thought I would see that.

Here is Louie back on his side of the lake. He's scared of going to the other side. Jill stayed on the other side, but stayed in a place where she can easily see or hear Louie.

Louie

Spoonface is on the move with his orange ring, now seen closer to where he usually is, but heading north.

Here is a photo of a friendly female scaup. Several males and females were close by:

This dove was sitting on the speed limit sign at the lake. The speed limit is really for people on bikes. There's been a few accidents there between bikes and pedestrians.

I opened a new Cafe Press story selling some of my photos on T-shirts, etc. It's called Just Ducky by Darlene.

Spoonface!!!!!

2012-01-25T12:53:00.000-08:00

I went really early and found a couple people feeding the ducks while it was still dark. Many of the ducks flew off as I came up. But, then, as I was talking about Spoonface (Bossy), a little scruffy duck walked up. At first, I thought it was Poquito, but then I saw the weird wing feathers and finally, I saw the orange ring! It was Spoonface! He has almost got is full colors and it looks like many of his flying feathers grew back.

You can still see the ring around his neck

Then, in a flash, he was gone.

Also there was who I think is Doodle's Placekeeper who was there with his female, but I'm not sure.

There was one bufflehead at the lake, here he is flying away:

All the geese were across the lake, including Jill. Louie is too scared to go over there. Here he is with Picked On. I wonder if Picked On is a girl, maybe she's in love with Louie and that's why she doesn't want him to be with Jill. But, I've seen them fighting, so I'm fairly sure he's a boy.

**Photo below may be graphic:

Final end for a lesser scaup, feeding the vultures. I think he died naturally and did not die a violent death.

To compensate, here is a living lesser scaup, female:

And, a whole bunch of lesser scaups in the same area, all alive, too.

Pepper was there along with his "normal" brother. His "weird" brother was across the lake.

Pretty male Anna's hummingbird:

Compare that one to my mystery hummingbird. I wish I could compare size, but the one below is very tiny.

And, finally, a decent photo of a Bewick's wren:

Update on the sick/hurt California gull. The people who said they would take care of him claimed that they couldn't find him later on that day. The next day, he was found dead near the water. His photo will be added to the Lake Murray Birds Memorial Album on George Killdeer's page on Facebook.

Rain today

2012-01-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

You can see the rain in the above photo. That's the mystery hummingbird. Below, is another similar hummingbird that was close enough to me so that the flash illuminated her orange-ness. So, I think they're rufous or Allen's hummingbirds.

Another sick young gull, time, a California gull. He's more mobile then the other one, but very weak. Didn't even want to get out of the rain. He's also got a busted foot. The lady that helped me last time wasn't there, so I had to leave him. Another staff member said he would take care of him later, but I don't know if they will remember. I don't think he'll make it much longer. He is acting like Hop-a-long Bill was before he died.

Here's a photo of a spotted towhee:

Somebody lost some of their feathers, probably one of the raptors. I did see Big Mama Cooper and she was fine:

Big Daddy (whom I also found out is not only called Cinnamon, but Paprika, too), still hanging in there:

Cinnamon (with Pepper trailing after her):

When I first arrived, I could not find Louie! But, his Canada goose friend was nowhere to be seen, also, so I figured they were together. I saw them later.

This is Louie's companion, Picked-on. I originally thought he was the one that was stolen last year, but, nope, this is him. He's a total nutcase. Him and Louie fight and I don't think Louie likes him, but he likes Louie and if Louie's not around, he will keep calling for him:

I've been seeing Not Pepper around lately, but he's being a pain to photograph:

Pepper's been very co-operative:

Haven't taken a photo of this guy in a while, it's Stumpy (Or Stubby-tail). He was one of the ducklings hatched two years ago in Alvarado Bay:

And, finally, I thought I'd get a photo of Ducky, another duck I haven't photographed in a while, and his mate. Ducky still never got his colors 100% and now he's beginning to molt again:

Bossy is still missing and I saw the Northern Harrier eating a coot where he was last seen. I sure hope that she didn't get Bossy, too. I also didn't see Hurt Wing and Curly, either. It's possible that Bossy is hiding out until the hawk goes away. Also, Peaches and Caramel were seen today, too.

A day at Famosa Slough

2012-01-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

It stopped raining long enough to go on the monthly bird walk at Famosa Slough.

First, here are a bunch of American avocets. Also around the same spot are a whole bunch of killdeer.

Willet:

Eared grebe:

American kestrel:

Blue-winged teal:

Ruddy ducks:

Northern pintails:

Also seen was a peregrine falcon, black-crowned night heron, great blue heron, kingfisher, black and Say's phoebe, but NO stilts!

Small birds and killdeer

2012-01-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today, I took photos of small birds and killdeer at Lake Murray. It was very cold this morning and many wild ducks were missing today, including Cinnamon, Bossy, Curly, Hurt Wing, Peaches, Pepper, and others. All the domestic ducks and geese were accounted for.

First, here are some bushtit photos. Bushtits never stay still, so it's often hard to get clear photos of them:

Next, we have a mystery hummingbird. I saw this juvenile bird a week ago behaving much differently than the Anna's. I thought it was a Costa's, then saw some orange-ness to it and thought maybe a calliope, Allen's or juvenile rufous. Now, I think it's a Costa's again.

I'm still on a quest to get a good common yellowthroat photo. While this one was in a good position, it still came out too blurry.

I saw a bunch of tree swallows, where else, in a tree! They were swarming back and forth from the tree and across the lake:

Next, are the killdeer. I've lost track of identifying many of the killdeer, but I think the first is either Martha and George or Martha and her daughter who looks like George. In the third photo down, George III can be seen to the right. Other than that, most of the photos look like the rest of the juveniles as well as a few from across the lake.

A day at the San Diego Salt Works.

2012-01-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

Once a month, docents from the San Diego Audubon Society lead a tour of the San Diego Salt Works area that is usually closed off to the public.

When we arrived, we were greeted by killdeer, but I couldn't get any photos of them because people ahead of me caused them to move too far away. But, we did find a whole bunch of gulls and grebes at first. Also, there was a peregrine and the remains of many, many dead birds, mostly eared grebes, but also a cormorant, gulls, a few ducks, and a black-necked stilt. There were also coon and dog prints around.

One of the first friendly birds we saw was an least sandpiper. Later, though, we saw several dozen flying around. Only a few western sandpipers were present.

Also, hundreds of Belding's savanna sparrows:

And, there was an American pipit there, too:

And, we saw some Clark's and western grebes:

This willet was very curious:

There was an Eurasian wigeon among the brant, but I don't think I got a photo of him.

Also, a rare winter Caspian tern among the juvenile gulls:

Our guide said this was a glaucous-wing crossed with a western gull, juvenile:

We saw several royal terns and a few Forster's terns, too:

A friendly female northern shoveler who seemed to expect us to give her food:

Black-necked stilt:

Marbled godwit:

Here are more shots of the salt ponds:

Other birds seen include lots and lots of eared grebes, a horned grebe, kestrel, osprey, brant, dunlin, ruddy and black turnstones, blue-winged teal, northern pintail and American avocets.

Counting Day

2012-01-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

Today was my monthly counting day at Lake Murray. I saw some new types of birds today.

One bird I saw was a canvasback. I think it's been years since I've seen one there.

I saw this hummingbird acting very different than all the Anna's hummingbirds in the area. Instead of singing and fighting, she basically scolded everyone and chirped aggressively. I thought maybe it was a Costa's as they are seen from time to time in the area, so I took a photo to make sure. But, when I got home, I noticed that the undersides were a pale orange. I think it's a calliope hummingbird, but it's a little too big. It's possibly a Allen's or rufous hummingbird.

Here are the last of the gadwalls this year.

Coot fight!

Pepper ran up to me as soon as I called him and posed for his picture.

Quacker was standing on an overturned boat at the dock, but was nowhere to be seen later on.

I found 15 vultures all around where I last saw Spoonface (Bossy). I think they just like that spot and weren't there because anything was dead.

Where is Spoonface?

2012-01-08T13:16:00.000-08:00

I didn't take many photos today, but I am beginning to worry about Spoonface (Bossy). I haven't seen him in almost a week. If he could fly, I would feel better. He has gone missing before, I hope he shows up again.

Today's photos include a couple of shy wigeons:

And, a snowy egret, close up.

Missing duck found alive!

2012-01-06T13:25:00.000-08:00

Not long ago, I wrote about a duck that I hadn't seen in a while and I presumed she was dead. It was the duck with the wing that drags along the ground. Well, today, she was found alive and well.

Also, just about everyone else was seen doing well today except Spoonface (Bossy), but he was last seen on the move, so he might be MIA for a while. Also, I don't think I saw Curly today, but that's not unusual. He's seen when he wants to be seen.

Quacker has been acting weird, lately, more feral and less friendly. I feel sad because she was once one of the most friendly, talkative duck there. Now, she will only come up to people when they have food. I can't even get a good photo of her anymore because she's either swimming away from me, or she's in a bad light.

Pepper was seen, resting on one leg:

Big Daddy, whom I also found out is also called Cinnamon, is doing well, too. Here he is with a girlfriend:

This wigeon was very lonely and calling for another wigeon. I think it might be the friendly juvenile now all grown up and in his adult feathers:

I saw this gull with a weird-looking bill. I think it's a juvenile California gull:

I did see the other young western gull flying around. No more sounds of baby gulls begging since that one got taken in to Project Wildlife.

And, finally, I saw Jill. She's doing well, but hasn't chosen a new partner, yet.

Baby gull is sick

2012-01-03T13:38:00.001-08:00

The big juvenile western gull at Lake Murray was found mostly paralyzed and weak this morning. A worker moved him aside and I checked on him after two hours. He was still in the same spot, not moving. But, if you tried to touch him, he was ready and willing to bite.

Karen, who works for the water department, donated some money and he was taken to Project Wildlife for care. Botulism or a bacterial infection may be the cause as it is not uncommon with birds who eat crustaceans.

I am not a huge fan of gulls because they eat small birds, baby birds, and eggs, but they deserve to live like anything else does and they are only trying to survive. I'm sure the animals don't like a lot of things that people do, too.

Also seen today were the herons on their nest. There was a third heron nearby, but I think it was one of last year's offspring. It didn't seem to have a mate. Last year, there were two pairs, but one pair lost their eggs/chicks very early.

I saw this black-crowned night heron in a tree, trying to sleep.

Somebody complained about the osprey nest being an eyesore because they never use it. While they don't raise chicks in the nest, they do like to use it for resting and eating.

These lesser scaup were really friendly. Usually, when they first arrive at the lake, they're very scared of everything and don't approach the shoreline. However, about this time of year, they are more relaxed and will come up to get food or a closer look.

Male

Female

Pepper was seen today with a big hole in his chest. He's been a bad boy and picking fights, lately. He's still in love with his mom, too.

Happy shorebird counting day!

2012-01-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

I started a new tradition last years for New Year's day where I go and count shorebirds. I still don't have a scope, but it didn't matter because it was so foggy! I don't think I could even see a mile even later in the morning. I went to the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge in the South Bay which includes the mud-flats. Here is what the fog looked like at 10:30, but it was way worse when I arrived.

Many of the photos were taken through the fog and a couple were taken through fences, hence the "noisy" photos.

First the ducks:

Green-winged teal and short billed dowitcher

Northern Pintail (looks like Snoogie!)

More pintails

Bufflehead

I was pleasantly surprised to see these guys for the first time. They're surf scoters! Here are some females:

The only male was not very co-operative:

Now, for the shorebirds, beginning with some stilts seen through the fog and a fence:

Stilt drinking

Short-billed dowitcher

Best picture I could get of a long-billed dowitcher

Dunlin

Bunch of western sandpipers

Willet, eating

Godwits and dowitchers

Godwits and least sandpipers

Long-billed curlew

The next picture shows a godwit and a willet. These two are best buddies and followed each other everywhere. Another willet came by to visit, but went away. If one got too far away, the other would call for it.

There were also brant, eared grebes, several species of gulls and sparrows, too.

Flying ducks!

2011-12-31T12:10:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to see Pepper actually fly today! I didn't know if he could because of his domestic duck genes and the fact that he was always watching birds, but never flying. Well, today, I saw him fly quite well, though only a few feet. He was very un-cooperative as a photo subject.

Also, I saw Quacker back to her flying self. She's a cayuga, but today I saw her actually keeping up with a wild mallard! She was so fast!

This is one of the "friendly ducks" that wasn't impressed with Pepper's honk-whistles that he was trying to impress the females with.

I sometimes see Not Pepper around now and then:

Spoonface (Bossy) still has his ring around his neck/crop. He hates it!

Baby Bob was briefly seen, but it was really dark, so my shutter was too slow for a good photo. I rarely see her after the sun comes up.

I thought this seagull has a crayfish, but when I looked more closely, I couldn't tell exactly what it was. It might have been a twig.

Male Anna's hummingbird, singing:

Song sparrow, though it looks a bit different than other song sparrows:

I found a couple of killdeer in the ballfields, I don't know if they're a pair or two sisters. They seemed really friendly with each other. What got me is how much both of them looked like Digger, Shy, or Tiny. They might be Shy's babies (Shy is the sister of Digger), or at least one of them might be. Shy's mate was the male who looked like Tiny and was a foster dad to Surprise, Shy's brother (who is now, probably Firecracker's mate).

The duck I posted about a few months with the broken/damaged wing may have been eaten by a coyote or raccoon. I saw a feather pile near where she hangs out, but didn't realize she was missing because she sometimes disappears and then I see her later. She might be one of Ducky's ducklings, but she may have also been one to arrive from migration. I believe her wing may have been hurt during mating or fighting. Here is a photo of her from September.

She never seemed bothered by her wing and happily swam around the lake and grazed along the shoreline.

Spoonface, Pepper's brother and other birds

2011-12-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the birds at Lake Murray that I took today.

Spoonface still has the ring around his neck and he fights with it every chance he gets. But, I've also noticed a personality change with him. He's gotten more like his old name, Bossy, more aggressive and more vocal, too. He is also getting more green on his head. Other than the problems with the ring, he is now a very energetic little duck.

I saw George and Killer's offspring all hanging out near the entrance. Later, they all flew away and hung around the solar panels of the water treatment plant because a very large tomcat was hanging around. I've never seen that cat before and I first saw him near some coot remains. But, I think the owl or another raptor got the coot as it looked plucked like a raptor does it.

Anyway, I think this is George III:

In the ballfields, I saw the M6 mom and dad. But, I also saw another pair one of whom is one of the chicks that grew up there last year. I think the male might be castor. The female is completely new, perhaps the one I saw alone earlier in the year:

Perhaps Castor, maybe Pollux

The unknown female

I also saw a sora out in the open. Usually, it only comes out when it's cloudy.

And, one of the great blue heron was seen. I think this might be the female. Both parents have been seen together this year. I think they're going to make a new nesting spot on the other side of the lake.

This is Pepper's brother, the "gray duckling".

And, here is Pepper:

I found these bones, but I think they might be chicken bones from picnics, but could be coot wing bones.

Spoonface needs help!

2011-12-24T13:05:00.000-08:00

Spoonface (Bossy) needs help! He got some kind of orange plastic ring around his neck. It's not real tight and wouldn't be a problem except that he gets his bill stuck whenever he tries to get it off. Then, when he's in the water, he twists, turns and fights to get it off. I'm afraid he's going to get stuck and/or get in a position where he could drown.

He likes to hang out at about the two mile mark where there are two benches. I tried to catch him, but he wouldn't go for it. He tried to fly, but couldn't because of his missing feathers and, instead, cartwheeled all over the place.

Sorry it's blurry, but here he is fighting with the ring

A couple of the wood ducks were seen today. I think it was Doodle's Placekeeper and a female. Last week, I saw Doodle's Bully, his female and her duckling.

Jill was back across the lake where she and Jack used to rest. She swam all over, looking for him, but then went to sleep at her usual spot.

I expectantly saw a spotted towhee:

A house wren, scolding:

I saw five killdeer in one part of the ballfield area. I think they're George and Killer's offspring. Here are photos of two of them:

Some old favorites

2011-12-22T16:10:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post a few photos of some old favorites at Lake Murray.

Big Daddy

Bigboi

Curly

Here's Spoonface. Good news, his body feathers look like they've grown back. His wing feathers may not grow back until the next molt.

The friendly juvenile wigeon

Jill was finding comfort hanging around the big embden, who might be a female, but I'm not sure. His/her mate tries to chase off Jill, but she mostly ignores him or just moves away a little. She seems to be in a much better mood and is beginning to fit into the group.

The Canada goose is not letting Louie get near her. Louie always keeps his eye on her and calls to her, too. She sometimes answers back. Whenever Louie gets vocal, the Canada goose tries to drown him out, but he's no match for the Chinese gander.

I also got a photo of the California thrasher that lives near the ballfield. I think I saw a sage thrasher, too, but couldn't get a photo of it because it was blocked by branches.

Goose fight!

2011-12-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Louie and Jill are still fighting over at Lake Murray. I think Louie is frustrated with her not responding to his constant flirting. I think I did see her nod her head at him a couple of times, though.

Louie pursuing Jill

When Louie grabs her, she grabs him back and kicks him. Then, they begin fighting with their wings:

After a second or two, one of the Canada geese starts to attack Louie.

In this fight, a third goose attacked the Canada goose after he grabbed Jill's back feathers.

I found out, though, that Jack (Jill's mate) was not taken away to the vet's and that he, most likely, was stolen from the lake.

Other than that, nothing much is going on.

Northern shoveler

Gadwall

Clark's grebe

Kestrel

3 lesser goldfinches

Boat dock duck gang

San Diego Christmas Bird Count

2011-12-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I took part in the annual Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count. My portion was the southwestern side of Chollas Lake, usually locked to the general public. It includes the model air plane flying area.

Not many of the birds were co-operative about having their picture taken, especially the horned larks:

Saw many savanna sparrows, too.

And, several kestrels:

We could see the snow on Mount Laguna from where we were.

There were also meadowlarks, cedar waxwings, lots of yellow-rumped warblers, northern harrier, gnatcatchers, tons upon tons of Anna's hummingbirds, a merlin, red-tailed hawks, California towhees, and many other species. Very disappointed in the severe lack of killdeer (none!).

At the lake, I saw this cute little female muscovy:

And, Arrowhead!

Update on Jill:

Jill has re-joined the main flock, but is being harassed by all the geese. Louie is totally in love with her, but attacked her once, probably in an attempt to mate. Jill resisted and began fighting back. One of the Canada geese got upset and attacked Louie. Later, he made sure that Louie couldn't get near Jill. Louie shadowed her around, cooing and flexing his neck at her, but she kept her distance. It might be too soon for her and the other geese in the flock are making sure that she's kept at a low rank.

Someone else also thought that Jack might have been stolen from the lake, too. They said they saw footprints around where he and Jill hung out. But, like I said before, there is a lady who looks after them over there and I haven't talked to her about it, yet.

RIP Big Daddy2 (Latte)

2011-12-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

Took at trip to Lake Murray to check on Jack and Jill and found the vultures eating parts of what was left of Big Daddy2 (Latte).

It looks like he died in his sleep as there didn't seem to be a struggle and none of the other ducks were upset. In fact, it looked like Bigboi was looking and calling for him.

Jill is doing OK, but seems very sad without Jack who has been missing since at least Monday. I haven't been able to talk to anyone who might know what happened to him, yet.

Jack is missing!

2011-12-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

Jack and Jill near what was left of Meanie last summer

Jack, the white gander who lives with Jill near the ballfields at Lake Murray was missing this morning. I thought I saw him when I first arrived, but by the time I went to the other side, he was gone and Jill was frantically looking and calling for him.

Jill, looking for Jack this morning

I saw Jack on Sunday and he didn't look too good. He's always sleepy when I see him, but the last few days he seems to have gotten more lethargic. I can't find anything that tells me what happened to him and I think Jill is very confused, too. There was no indication that a predator got him, but it has been raining the last few days, so it might have gotten washed away. I am wondering if the lady that feeds them found something wrong with Jack and took him to the animal hospital. Perhaps she or whomever couldn't take Jill, too, and will come back for her later. I am worried because there are coyotes all over the place there and she is all alone.

In other news, when I arrived, I saw the merganser, but he wasn't very co-operative about me taking his picture. The water level had been lowered, so they could see me coming from pretty far away. Plus, it was dark when I originally arrived.

I saw this cute cinnamon teal. The camera couldn't focus well because it was still dark:

Later, I saw this green heron trying to fish from a branch:

Lots of killdeer today. I think I still counted 11. They were being very quiet and still, but I could tell they loved the lower water level. All of them were in George's feeding area. George, Killer, Dee, and George III were seen among others.

The kiddos

George III, Puffy Band and Dee (I think)

George on the far left

And, finally, a bunch of shovelers. Here's a male and a female:

The Wilson's snipe was heard near the fence and cedar waxwings were heard around the golf course area.

Christmas Bird Count Training

2011-12-11T13:26:00.001-08:00

Killdeer

Yesterday, I went to the Christmas Bird Count training at Rohr Park in Bonita. The actual Christmas Bird Count for San Diego will be next weekend. So, I was able to brush up on my small birds as there's a lot of small birds there. However, many of these birds were too fast for my camera, hence the less than perfect focus to blurriness on some of the photos.

Cedar Waxwings

Orange-crowned warbler

This next bird, the Painted Redstart, is actually far from it's normal range. They have a summer range of central/southern Arizona and usually live in Mexico.

There also was a northern parula, but it was way too fast for even a blurry photo.

Below, are some sleepy killdeer, sleeping in the horse corral. These are the same killdeer I see at the church, which is across the street:

Townsend's warbler

Western Bluebird

We also saw a kestrel, merlin, red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, Cooper's hawk, sparrows, finches of all kinds and a palm warbler.

Lots of killdeer

2011-12-09T13:59:00.001-08:00

George seems to be hosting a family holiday get together on the mud flats that were created when the water level was lowered. In the morning, I only saw George and Killer with their families, all nine of them (all except Killer Jr.):

I think this is one of George's daughters. She looks a lot like her older siblings and her mom:

Later, I saw two extra killdeer. One looks a little bit like the M6 dad, but I think it might actually might be Squiggy (in the center):

Stretch that wing!

George and Martha were there. Here's George in the middle standing on a stone. Martha is to his right (our left):

Bye

This young male was by himself. I'm wondering if he's George's son, or a male coming to court one of George's daughters:

"Puffy Band" was there, too, but seemed extremely tired and weak. That's him on the right:

Other birds:

Bossy Duck has lost more feathers. I think a mean drake might be hurting him over by the benches in that area. He's not as friendly now and stays away from other ducks.

I thought this was cute, seeing Louie the gander, sleeping. He's a good flock leader:

Two wigeons I saw:

I saw them near a bunch of fishing line all strewn about, all over bushes, the ground, around rocks and everything. The only reason why I was there was because I saw the Cooper's hawk catch something and I wanted to go see what she got.

Baby Bob was briefly seen:

Blue-gray gnatcatcher. There was a second one nearby, too. He was difficult to photograph and get good lighting:

White-crowned sparrow:

Anna's hummingbird:

Counting day at Lake Murray

2011-12-07T13:26:00.001-08:00

Today was my monthly counting day at Lake Murray. I saw a few surprises including a common merganser and a Wilson's snipe. I got a photo of the merganser, but not the snipe, whom I almost stepped on. He flew away and hid so quickly, that I couldn't find him again. Snipes look a lot like woodcocks and blend into their surroundings very well.

First, here's a photo of the common merganser (and some coots and a gadwall):

I saw a few buffleheads, too.

Pepper and his siblings and friends looked at me, expectantly, to feed them. The one duck in the middle is Pepper's brother, bathing. His little sister is on the right:

Something happened to Bossy (Spoonface). Part of his wing feathers were torn off and he was limping. Otherwise, he's fine and in good spirits. He is a little more cautious, though.

I saw this fungus, too, growing on a tree.

I counted almost 700 coots, but only about 170 mallards. This year, compared to last, there are fewer mallards and ruddy ducks, but more variety. I am seeing wigeons for the first time and more shovelers. Not many grackles.

George and his family came out and made sure they were counted, too. All five youngsters and all four adults were there, but I didn't get good photos of all of them.

I think this killdeer might be Shy. There were three or four other killdeer there, too. One of them might be Miracle and she may have been checking up on her or on her younger brothers:

Lake Murray

2011-12-04T13:08:00.001-08:00

I did a short walk at Lake Murray today, not enough to go all around, but enough to see the most of the animals. I didn't go far enough to see Jack and Jill or Bossy duck.

It sure was cold this morning, too. The lake was unusually high today. The poor ducks didn't know where to hang out.

Oh no! Our beach is almost gone!

Peaches

Her son, Pepper

Here's a shot of a ruddy duck with some lesser scaup:

All of George's children and grandchildren were out (except Killer Jr. who left a long time ago):

There were five, three females and two males. One male is George III, the other male looked like an adult, but could be one of George's sons from this year or one trying to court one of the females. It's amazing how they all show a family resemblance with their body shape. They all look like either D. or Martha.

Later, someone came by with their dogs and four flew away leaving George III alone, which he hates. He tried calling for them, but something's wrong with his voice and it's not that loud. So, he flew over to where they went, instead.

An osprey says "hello".

Barbara Anderson's article in the Mission Trails Courier confirms that there are great horned owls at the dam area. So far, I know they've taken at least two ducks, perhaps three this year around Alvarado Bay.

Audubon walk at Chollas Lake

2011-12-03T15:42:00.001-08:00

This morning, I went on a San Diego Audubon walk at Chollas lake.

A few ducks thought we might have food:

I don't know if they realized that there is a peregrine falcon big enough to eat them right above. But, I think the falcon already ate:

Not far away, the pigeons were going nuts. Someone said that they saw a merlin near here. They ended up roosting in this tree:

Saw this beautiful, young Cayuga duck. She has only one small white feather. There was another one like her there, too:

A northern harrier gave us a show. Unfortunately, the photos weren't clear because my lens is slow and he was flying:

Lots of red tailed hawks seen today, too.

Shorebird counting with PRBO

2011-12-02T17:26:00.001-08:00

Today, I did my first official shorebird count with Point Reyes Bird Observatory. I was paired up with Lynne, who is very experienced at doing this and we went to the east side of Coronado to look for shorebirds. However, the shoreline there was not very conducive to shorebirds as it's very rocky. Though, we did find a few.

We surveyed a couple different sections, one north of the ferry landing and one near Glorietta Bay and south of the ferry landing until we got to just past the bridge.

It was a nice, bright, sunny day:

In the first section, all we saw was this little spotted sandpiper.

Up ahead, there was a small roost, but they were outside the study area. Three sanderlings, some godwits, and a black bellied plover.

At Glorietta Bay, I saw my first Heerman's gull, though gulls were not part of the count:

Lots of grebes of all kinds, but we weren't counting those. Here's a western grebe:

Lots of buffleheads here:

A few pacific loons (too far away to get a good photo):

This marbled godwit and black bellied plover were very co-operative. They were located just south of the ferry landing:

The purpose of this census was to check on the population health of various shorebird species. Many of these birds breed in the far north in areas that are not accessible for research. It's possible that the warming of the arctic may have an effect on these species' breeding. So, they are counted while they are in their wintering areas.

Bossy Spoonface

2011-11-29T18:50:00.001-08:00

Bossy (Spoonface) was so cute today. He was waiting for food with all the other ducks on the other side of the lake. But, I don't think the guy came to feed them. (He's not a bossy duck, but his sister was and his whole family were called the bossy ducklings).

Curly was hanging out with Donald and the runner ducks:

I also saw the gadwalls again:

And, I saw a downy woodpecker pecking on a tree.

And, the osprey trying to get his breakfast:

Finally, a killdeer, I think it's George III. Probably hanging out here hoping a girl will come by.

I think I also saw Squiggy, still without a mate.

And, finally, I did a photo essay on Gather about these finches using a drinking fountain as a birdbath. You can see the whole essay here.

Gadwall and grebe day

2011-11-27T15:21:00.001-08:00

The gadwalls seem to have calmed down a little at Lake Murray and are letting me get some photos. And, there were a mess of eared grebes all around, too. I think I saw at least 20 gadwalls and about 10 eared grebes today, very unusual. Lots of lesser scaup, too, but nowhere as much as last year.

The one in front, I think, is a resident gadwall

This guy is very friendly

Other birds:

Lesser scaup

Young juvenile western gull

Older juvenile western gull

White crowned sparrow

And, a fun one of Pepper, stretching.

My first Audubon bird walk

2011-11-26T15:47:00.001-08:00

Today, I did my first Audubon bird walk in Tecolote Canyon. Many of the birds were small and were far away, so I didn't get many good photos. We saw Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, California thrashers, California towhees, lesser goldfinches, say's phoebes, and many more. Here are a few photos I took that came out presentable.

First, a pretty flower, I think it's a primrose:

A lesser goldfinch:

And, two photos of California thrashers:

I had one of a Say's Phoebe and Northern Flickr, but they weren't that great.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Duckies!

2011-11-24T12:04:00.001-08:00

Peek-a-boo!

Happy Thanksgiving from all the duckies at the lake I saw today! It sure was a busy place despite being closed.

Bossy Duck

Bossy's older look-a-like

The dumped ducks in a different area of the lake than usual.

Gadwall; they were giving me a hard time and wouldn't let me take their picture.

Louie

Pepper was actually out trying to compete for mates. He even tried to do honk-snorts, but needs more practice.

This might be either Pepper's brother (the gray duckling) or his cousin:

And, three of the ducks project wildlife dropped off last summer.

Bigboi

And Curly!

Buffleheads, teals and wigeons

2011-11-22T11:29:00.001-08:00

First, before we get to the ducks today at Lake Murray, I found this female killdeer all by herself. I don't know who she is, but she seems similar to Georgina. No other killdeer were seen today.

Also, here's a nice looking red-winged blackbird.

OK, now for some ducks. First, a a female wigeon hanging around with the mallards:

Buffleheads:

Female green-winged teal:

A lady across the lake has named the Swedish that was dropped off at the lake last March, Oreo:

She calls his friend Aflac, but that would make him Aflac 3:

I thought I saw a spoon on this duck's face, so I thought it was Bossy (Spoonface), but from this angle, you can't see a spoon, so I am thinking twice about this being him:

Bigboi was not seen and since he's been ill lately, I am worried about him. I also haven't seen Curly lately, either.

Showery day

2011-11-19T13:09:00.001-08:00

Today is kinda partly cloudy and even showery. I didn't take many pictures, but here's a few that I took this morning at Lake Murray.

I've been trying to get a photo of the common yellowthroats for a long time, but they hide in the reeds whenever they see me looking at them. This is probably the best shot I had at one so far:

Close-up of a coot:

A gadwall family! I accidentally flushed them out. I wonder if two of them are the two ducklings from earlier this year:

Pretty duck:

Eared grebe. I saw three together this morning:

Quacker's back!

2011-11-17T12:26:00.001-08:00

I didn't do a full walk around at Lake Murray, but I did visit the area where many of the ducks hang out. I saw most of the familiar ducks there including Quacker and even Bossy duck was there! But, still no sign of the missing Pekin. I think it was Aflac1 who is gone. It doesn't look good, there were vultures nearby, hanging around on the other side of the bay with a few seagulls. But, I didn't see any white feathers over there.

The last Pekin on this part of the lake

Bossy Duck (Spoonface) in a strange area of the lake

Here's a picture of Bigboi. I don't think he's doing well and I don't know how much longer he has to live. He acts like Tom did when he started to get old. Cinnamon's half sister was also seen.

Bigboi

Cinnamon's half sister

This next duck might be Poquito, but he looks so much like Ducky! Perhaps he's one of Ducky's ducklings:

Young duck

Quacker and her mate

Other birds seen:

Coots!

Northern shoveler

Baby ring-billed gull

Eared Grebe

Shorebirds and missing ducks

2011-11-14T18:31:00.001-08:00

This morning at Lake Murray was beautiful with lots of sun. I started from the north side of the lake. There was a lady there feeding the geese and duck and noticed that Cinnamon as well as the pekin and Swedish duck were all doing well. But, no sign of Bossy duck.

On the other side, Pepper, Not Pepper, Buffy and Pepper's family were doing well. Here's a photo of Pepper with his brother:

Nearby, all the ducks were by where people normally feed them. However, one of the pekins from that side was missing. I looked everywhere and could not find him. The two are normally together all the time, so it doesn't look good for the missing duck. Here is a photo of the remaining one alone with the runner duck and the most recently dumped trio:

I found this new female spoonface today. She has a spoon on her bill just like Bossy does:

Speaking of spoonbills, here are two real spoonbill (northern shovelers, actually) females:

Also not seen was Quacker, the flying Cayuga. This also worries me as I haven't gone a day without seeing her in a long time. All her friends and adopted family were there but her. But, it rained recently, so she could have gone somewhere else for a while. The killdeer were all missing, too, probably for the same reason. They tend to go missing once we get hard rain.

I also went to Crown Point and saw lots upon lots of shorebirds. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and dark, so the colors were muted:

Black-bellied plovers:

A black-bellied plover and a ruddy turnstone:

Semipalmated plovers and a dunlin:

Shorebirds in general, including marbled godwits:

There were about a hundred plovers all on the sand, too.

Pepper and Not-Pepper and Counting Day

2011-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

Pepper (back) and Not-Pepper (front)

Today was the day I count the birds. I counted 887 coots, but I know I missed a couple hundred. Mallard numbers are holding mostly steady, but dropping a lot in the last year and a half. Very few scaup this year compared to last.

Because of bad lighting, etc, I was not able to get many photos of birds other than the ducks. Most of the small birds were too fast. There were many Hutton's vireos and even some Cassin's vireos there, but too fast for the camera.

I did see Bossy and his new friends. I'm thinking that might be his mom in that group of males behind him.

Nap time for duckies!

Somebody was feeding the ducks near the dock. Cinnamon must have been hungry because she was there from across the lake as well as Cinnamon 2, the orange-billed Cinnamon. Pepper was there and Cinnamon and her male friends were very kind to Pepper who seemed to like Cinnamon (unlike Buffy, who attacked Pepper). Her body-guards were always watching, though. Pepper is in the middle of the photo between Cinnamon and the big male on the left.

Not-Pepper (front) was there and he seemed to like Pepper, too and vice-versa. Pepper sorta followed him around. Not-Pepper showed up at the lake when he was almost three months old and looks a lot like Pepper. He was even that gray-black color like Pepper was before he got his drake colors.

Pepper seems to really like Quacker, whom he grew up with. I think she likes him, too. I think they'll end up being mates. However, she does not sit, so there will probably be no ducklings from her unless she lays eggs in someone else's nest.

Big Daddy was also seen as well as Bossy's sisters, the friendly ducks, and Pip and Peep, but no wood ducks were seen at all.

Bossy Duck Returns!

2011-11-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

It was very dark and getting ready to rain when I saw Bossy duck and another, older male, fly in to Del Cerro Point. They get fed there in the morning and he wanted to get something to eat.

Baby Doodle was also there and bossing Bossy around:

I also saw the male "friendly duck" there, but couldn't get a good photo of him.

It was difficult to get photos, at first, because it was dark. Then, it was raining, later, so I didn't get a whole lot of photos.

I did see Doodle's "place-keeper" there:

The geese were out milling about. I think they liked the cooler weather. Plus, not that many people were there to feed them today, so I think they were hungry.

It's too bad Hop-a-long Bill isn't around anymore, his ring-billed friends are beginning to show up. It would have made him happy to see one of his own kind:

Baby Bob, feeding close to the ground:

I saw this eared grebe near the killdeers. I think it's the same one that kinda hangs out there every year.

Killdeer photos:

I think the first photo is of George or another related adult, but the rest were of the youngsters:

Santa Ana Day

2011-11-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

4 young killdeer

Today, there is a Santa Ana going on and it was hot and dry. So, many of the animals were in the shade or resting. However, the killdeer were out. Here is a couple of youngsters, probably George's daughters:

A young male, possibly George's son:

Here's George:

In the ballfields, I saw several other killdeer that I couldn't take photos of. One of them looked so small. I think it's Miracle. Her parents and brother were also there.

Below, are photos of Pollux's girlfriend and Pollux himself in the second picture:

I thought this was a nice photo of Cinnamon:

For some reason, Fingerbiter, the big duck, is attacking Pepper. I don't see where Pepper is provoking him and I think it's just a bullying thing. Fingerbiter was very nice to Bossy and I can't understand why he doesn't like Pepper. I think it might be because Pepper is popular with several females. Here's Fingerbiter (in the back) with Pepper in the front:

This next photo is of Doodle's bully, all by himself, under the falcon tree:

This is an un-named jumbo Pekin dropped off last spring:

Below is a photo of Baby Bob, rock chopping with George's daughter in the background:

Here's a surprise for me today: A long-billed curlew at the lake. First time I've seen on there. I couldn't get a good photo as he definitely didn't want to interact with me:

Correction!: I think the bird above might actually be a juvenile white-faced ibis! That explains why it looked so heron-like when I first saw him. My first ibis!

Lots of dead things around the lake lately, attracting vultures. Most of the dead things are dead catfish or dead coots. But, I did find a piece of rabbit skin on the main beach. I think vultures are cool. I love the way they fly. And, they clean up the lakeshore.

Still not seen: Bossy (and I'm beginning to get worried as his girlfriend has been without him since before he was last seen) and Doodle. However, I did find one duck that looked a lot like Bossy, but didn't have Bossy's mark on his nos (thought you can see a faint mark on it). It is possible that Bossy lost his mark during his molt like many males do, though that would be a bit fast since I saw him with it a week or so ago. Here is the duck that looks a lot like him, but without his mark on the bill:

Falcons hunting ducks

2011-10-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sleeping juvenile killdeer

Today, I went to check on the animals at Lake Murray, as usual, and I thought I heard a falcon calling. Then, I saw something that looked like a juvenile falcon, but wasn't sure. A few minutes later, I see a vulture flying around and right after that, an adult falcon chases him off. I went over to try to get the falcon's photo, stepping through a bunch of coot parts and a bad a smelly area. But, he flew off and attacked some ducks across the lake. Luckily, the ducks saw him and got a good head start. However he, and the other bird, were very persistent. At one point, I saw something hit the water, but I think it was a ruddy duck or coot taking a dive. As far as I know, no one was hurt and I didn't see the falcons again (or get a picture).

Right under where the falcons were hanging out were about 15 ducks including Quacker, Peaches and her mates and daughters and some ducks that Project Wildlife released earlier this year. Here is one of the ducks that almost became a victim:

I also saw, in the same area, some eared grebes, but far off:

In other duck news:

Pepper, on the left, was being bullied by "Finger-biter", the large duck in the photo:

I also saw some wigeons:

And one of the shovelers:

A snowy egret (was eating crayfish, but couldn't get the shot fast enough):

The great blue heron:

Some unidentified juvenile killdeer:

And, finally, Baby Bob, the spotted sandpiper:

Also seen today:

Shy and her mate as well as what might be Miracle and her brother and Killer Jr. in the ballfield area. Hopefully, out of sight of the falcons.

More migrants

2011-10-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Now that hunting season has begun, I'm seeing more migrants come in to Lake Murray. Most of these migrants are accustomed to people shooting at them, so they tend to stay out of my camera's range. So, some of the photos might be blurry.

First, here's a redhead and a northern pintail:

Some eared grebes along with a couple of scaup:

A ruddy duck:

And, the usual:

Pepper:

That coot that has the deformed feet and may be partially blind:

Here's a juvenile wood duck that I was hoping would be Doodle when I first saw him waddling around, but it wasn't.

And, the killdeer. I think I saw George III and possibly his mom this morning. Later, I saw two females, both seemed young, but one is slightly older than the others if I judge by the pectoral feathers. I'm thinking that one might be Killer and D.'s chick and the other might be George and Martha's daughter. Or, both could be George's daughter or one could be related to Shy who had chicks last June.

I did not see Bossy, but I think I saw his girlfriend or her sister and brother. Also, not seen was Doodle. And, it looks like the owl got another duck sometime since Sunday, a male mallard. The feathers looks to be of the duck that was in bad condition and weak.

Another foggy day.

2011-10-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

It was another foggy morning today and many photos I took did not come out well at all, so only a few are posted for today. I had one of a yellow-rumped warbler, but it was too blurry to post.

First, here's George and Martha:

Although this photo is blurry, I wanted to show how big Baby Bob (front) is next to the killdeer (back). She doesn't have the long legs, but her body is almost as big as theirs. She's almost the size and shape of a ruddy turnstone.

Pepper, hanging out. Notice the nice pattern forming on his chest:

I found a pile of feathers under a tree and when I looked up, the male Cooper's hawk was eating a dove. He wasn't very co-operative with me getting his photo, so it didn't come out as well as I'd like. Here he is with the half-eaten dove. He's clutching it against the branch. You can see the belly and legs of the dove hanging out below the branch near his tail:

I also saw a couple of shoveler ducks, too:

Bigboi and Doodle were not seen, but it was foggy. It is very unusual not to see Bigboi in the morning. He was still missing when the fog lifted, too.

Shorebirds seen today 10/20/2011

2011-10-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today, I took an accidental trip to Crown Point in Mission Bay. When I was driving by in my car, I saw a whole flock of black bellied plovers (with one dunlin hiding between them and possible a Pacific golden plover or two):

And, a few ruddy turnstones:

And a small flock of skimmers, too:

It was funny seeing the plovers hopping around on one leg because it was too cold to let the other leg down.

Foggy day

2011-10-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

This morning was foggy almost all morning. The sun did come out in the afternoon, though.

George, Martha, Killer and Dee were spotted first. They were very vocal and flew around a lot doing their kill-dees over and over. Later, I heard sounds like a killdeer was being attacked by something, but didn't see anything. I'm betting the hawk was nearby, perhaps I was standing under it and they were trying to warn me. When I came through the second time, there were twice as many killdeer, it seems.

George and Martha

Killer and Dee

Unknown

George's daughter

Pepper was there. He is absolutely fascinated with flying birds and loves to watch them. Here he is watching some pigeons flying around behind him. He loves to watch birds fly. I've never seen any bird be as fascinated by seeing others fly than Pepper. However, I have never seen him even attempt to fly himself. I wonder if he knows he can.

Bossy moved to a new location. Here he is:

Here is his ultra-friendly girlfriend:

I also saw Cinnamon:

The grumpy geese:

The juvenile Canada goose:

And, two towhees:

Ducks and owls

2011-10-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today, I found the body of a duck that I had known got attacked earlier this week. I saw the feathers scattered around, but didn't know who got caught until now. Here is a photo of the duck I took last year:

It is Ducky's friends' brother.

Here's what might be his duckling photo:

I would have never found him if it wasn't for these wood ducks:

I heard their calls and went to see if I could find Doodle when I found the duck. There was a huge great horned owl feather and a few others near the body. I think the owl stashed the duck in the tree, but it fell out into the water. I've seen skunk parts near there as well.

Ducky is fine. Here he is with his girlfriend, taken today. Her brother is nearby. So, the Three Musketeers are doing OK.

I also saw a female wigeon at the lake. First time I seen one there:

Also, a female Northern Shoveler. I had a hard time getting her photo as she kept staying in the shade.

Just for kicks, here's a photo of Louie, the gander:

And, Curly!

George looks for hawks

2011-10-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

George

Killdeer George seems to have moved the family away so that he can spot for hawks. Here he is looking for the hawks.

Looking with this eye:

Looking with his other eye:

The place where he was looking were two favorite trees used by the Cooper's hawk to attack the killdeer.

Earlier, Killer, Dee and George III were out alone, without George:

Killer and George III

And, Baby Bob, the GIANT spotted sandpiper was out. She's almost as big as the killdeer, bodywise. I tried to get a photo of her and the killdeer together, but it didn't look good, so I deleted them:

The baby coot is almost full grown. Mom caught a dragonfly and he demanded it be given to him. Part of it was. Then, he begged for more food.

The whole lake seems to be turning into Cootville. Only the coots and a few ruddy ducks were out. All the other ducks were hiding or under trees because of the heat.

Here are some ruddy ducks:

Bossy and his girlfriend:

Pepper:

Quacker and one of Pepper's sisters:

This kingbird has an itch:

Because of the dry weather, I saw many birds down by the water that I wouldn't normally see on the ground or at the water's edge such as this juvenile Hutton's Vireo:

No sign of Doodle or the wood ducks for a long time now.

Shorebirds seen today--Famosa Slough

2011-10-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Today's trip was to Famosa Slough off of W. Point Loma Blvd. I wanted to go to the San Diego River mudflats, but it was a little foggy close to the shore.

Today, lots of shorebirds in the morning plus a good amount of snowy egrets. They were fighting. Well, actually one or two were fighting with everyone else.

Several black-necked stilts all around:

The killees! (Killdeer):

Many greater yellowlegs:

A couple of marbled godwits (only one pictured):

And, the little blue heron being harassed by one of the snowy egrets:

Also seen were American avocets, dowitchers, cranky willets, a long-billed curlew, mallards, coots, wigeons, pied-bill grebes, a cormorant, blackbirds, crows, pelicans, great blue heron, and terns one of which I swear is a least tern, but I didn't get a photo. It's very unusual to have least terns there this time of year.

It was fun seeing and hearing all the different shorebird sounds and watching how each species fed differently.

Killdeer photos!

2011-10-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some killdeer photos I took today:

D. and Killer

An unknown female hanging out with Pollux

Pollux?

Watching for hawks

George's new daughter?

And, now for a couple duck photos:

I think this is Bossy, but I'm not sure. He was with two of the female friendly ducks until their brother stole one away.

I think this duck is new, possibly passing through:

RIP "Hop-a-long Bill".

The little ringed-bill gull that has been at the lake since the end of migration season last February, has passed on. Last Wednesday, I found him sleeping in his usual spot and he didn't move until I was close enough to grab him. He got up, moved a few inches, and went back to sleep. At the time, I didn't have any containers to put him in to take him to get help, plus I would have needed gloves with him as I didn't know why he was sick. When I saw him next, a couple hours later, he had moved to another spot, but appeared either dead or near death, but I didn't check on him.

Then, today, I found his body near the water. I looked at his leg and found that the skin on the damaged leg was completely gone and the bone exposed. Two of his toes and webbing on that foot were completely dead. It's amazing that he was able to walk on it all on it and for so long. His body appeared to have been laying in sleeping position when he died and possibly for some time afterward.

Rainy Day

2011-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

It is a dark, cloudy day with some rain. It didn't rain much when I was at Lake Murray, but it is supposed to later on in the day.

I found the real Pepper with his mom, one brother and, at least, one sister. Here he is:

Pepper's mom, Peaches, picked a big drake to mate with and he was a bit heavy for her and she couldn't keep her head above water very well. Luckily, Pepper and his brother were there because it distracted the drake so that he didn't keep her under water too long. Peaches must have liked it because a few minutes later, she was bobbing her head at that male again.

Quacker was there with the family. She has feathers on her face, but washed them right off:

The dumped ducks are adapting so well that you can't even get them out of the water even if you wanted to:

These ducks are seeking shelter under this table. A few of them ran out when I came by:

Baby Bob, one of the biggest spotted sandpipers I've ever seen, was there, but flew away:

And, a great blue heron was trying to get some napping done in a tree:

A sick grackle; he was walking around on his knees. However, he did have a great appetite and was drinking fine:

The baby coot:

Killdeer:

At the ballfields, the Cooper's hawk was making constant attacks, but all the killdeer were too fast for her from what I could see. They need to stop hanging out with the starlings and doves.

George and his family were hanging out in their usual spot:

In the photo above, George or Killer is trying to be friendly to the young female on the right. However, she seemed a little scared of whoever it was and ran away.

Counting Day

2011-10-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today, I did my monthly counting of birds at Lake Murray and the wood ducks decided that they didn't want to be a part of it and disappeared. All except Doodle. And, the herons weren't to be seen, either.

Doodle is looking much better, but a little toddler almost fell on him when the child fell backward. Doodle was standing right behind the him, but, luckily, sensed he was falling and moved away a little. Later, someone's dog scared him to flying off. I did see the dog go after something later, but did not see any ducks around. I looked all over and Doodle had completely disappeared.

I think this duck might be Pepper, but he's missing his little white spot under his chin and he's a bit larger than I remember him to be. However, he stood right next to his dad and I can see the resemblance. He's smaller than his dad, but bigger than most mallards. I sure hope he will be able to fly. It's also possible that this is one of Pepper's siblings.

ETA: This is not Pepper, afterall, but must be a sibling or half-brother. I found the real Pepper a couple of days later.

Speaking of updates, I think this might be Bossy Duck. I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, so it seems that he got his colors really fast. I think I also saw Poquito, who is a week older, and not fully colored yet. In this photo is the strangled duck's surviving sister who is in love with Bossy, but Bossy is very bossy with her. I think he likes her, though.

ETA: This is not Bossy, but Poquito afterall, I found the real Bossy later with a different female. The female in the photo is still identified as being the strangled duck's sister.

Baby coot is also still making it.

I saw some green-winged teals for the first time. I hope they stay the winter because they look like mini-mallards right now. But, I think they're just passing through.

And, finally, this little female hangs out with Quacker, the flying cayuga. Quacker loved Peaches' ducklings and I think she has taken to being a mom to this one and maybe one other. She does "mom talk" to her.

And, the killdeers:

George and his family hanging out.

Killer

There's that strange female again on the left. I'm beginning to wonder if this might be one of George's daughters from this year. The other young male is George III and that's Digger standing up on the right.

More duck and killdeer photos

2011-10-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos.

George and Martha are renewing their mating vows today:

Another photo of the female pintail:

I think these are Caramel's four ducklings now full grown:

Close up of one of the females:

Big Daddy2 with some algae:

The young male that was part of the "friendly ducklings" group:

And, Doodle, who is doing much better and finally getting his new plumage:

Ducks again

2011-09-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some duck photos again!

It's been very drizzly and dark in the morning, so I haven't been taking many photos. It does clear up later, but then all the birds are hiding.

Happy female northern pintail

Doodle's eye is much better and he's got a great appetite now.

Big Daddy!

And one of Bill (also known as "Hop-a-long Bill), the injured ring billed gull:

Killdeer update:

Couldn't get clear photos today.

I think George III might have found a mate, perhaps it's Miracle. Spike and Georgina are hanging out in the ballfields as is Killer Jr, whom the female used to hang out with. Killer Jr likes to hang out with the three boys, Squiggy, Castor and Pollux.

Big Mama Cooper was hunting this morning, I caught her by the lakeshore, cleaning herself after eating a dove. She looked a little like a duck on the shore from far off. I tried to get a photo of her, but she flew off.

Baby coot is still going strong. He's feeding himself more now.