Updates on the ducks

I didn't realize that it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted (I thought it had only been one week).  I have been out taking photos, but haven't found any that were that great that I could write a whole blog post about.

Gaddy is still doing well, but has gotten very possessive with his girlfriend lately.  It's now the height of the breeding season and the males are getting more aggressive. When she wanders towards another male, he will grab at her.  Then, he will walk around her quacking loudly in his cute little voice.  He's also been fighting as you can see from his chest.

Bigboi is having a problems with parasites and, perhaps, something else.  I caught him coughing and gaping today, but it didn't seem too serious.  He's also itching really bad, too.  He was a little slow to wake up today, too.

Cinnamon says to leave her alone, she wants to sleep.  I think she laid a small egg today.  She tends to lay smallish eggs.

She's surrounded by her boyfriends.

And, Big Daddy is there, too.

This duck is acting strangely.  He doesn't move when people walk up and if you try to touch him, he will bite hard.  Today, I brought him food and he was much more friendly.  He has a hip/leg issue, which is why is probably doesn't get up when people walk up to him.  He also likes his food dry and in a bowl, not wet and on the ground (though he will eat it that way if he has to).  I am going to see if I can find a home for him.  If he acts like he's in too much pain, I will probably take him to the shelter.  He also likes to follow around fishing boats.  Overall, he seems to want to be with humans and not other ducks.

There was a pair of redheads, too.

And, finally, Smudge (who looks a LOT like her dad, Pollux), is a popular female killdeer on the lake.  She has yet another suitor interested in her.  She doesn't seem to be interested in him, though.

Dumped duck update

Several of the new ducks have gone missing, mostly Pekins.  However, the only all black duck has also disappeared.  I couldn't find them anywhere.  The crested Swedish has lost most of her crest and almost looks non-crested.

I managed to get them to come closer to me today, but I think it's because they're very hungry.  Many of the ducks seem to have lost weight and look underweight for their breed.  Pekins are usually very large, round and fat, for example.

 I have found little sign of any predator activity except for another fresh set of white feathers.  But, no sign of any black feathers.  The small black duck *might* have been able to fly away as she was small enough.  I am hoping that some of those Pekins were rescued.

"Puffy head", the fawn and white crested duck which has lived at the lake was missing as well.  I did see Buffy2 and Donald, his two best friends.  I had to leave all of a sudden, so I couldn't do a through search in that area a second time.  So, perhaps, I will find him and some of the other missing Pekins later.  With the missing new ducks, there should be 23 Pekins at the lake, but I only saw 17 today.

In other news, there are more migratory birds showing up now.  I saw and heard several white-crowned sparrows and a few belted kingfishers.  I think I might have seen yellow-rumped warblers, too.  And, I saw these guys, a flock of white pelicans circling the lake.  They used to stop here a few years back, but only a few have been seen at the lake in the last few years.

These circled the lake and decided to fly off in the direction of the Salton Sea.

And, the killdeer were all excited and chasing each other around, too.

Two fuzzy dumped Easter ducklings

Last night, there was a lot of rain.  This morning, I found these two baby Pekins all alone, dumped at the side of the lake.

 Apparently, they had been there since the afternoon before.  They appear to be about 3-4 weeks old, which would put them right in the middle of the Easter season.  Usually, ducklings this age won't survive the night, especially a stormy night.  But, luckily, it was warmer than usual and the predators stayed away.  In the morning, one of the herons was eying the smaller of the two.  Plus, they seemed to be starving.

When I got them home, they were very dirty from the dirt in the carrier I was using.

I gave them a little bath:

They were still dirty, but they seemed to get really tired in the tub, so I took them out and dried them off.

Here is a video I made of them bathing (Yes, I know my tub is disgustingly dirty.  It's not as bad as it looks on video and I cleaned it afterward):






They were later taken to a store called Bird Crazy on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. to be adopted out. Bird Crazy specializes in exotic birds, but they thought they could help these babies. If you are interested in adopting them, look up that store here in San Diego.

Later, when I was returning the carrier, I saw Cinnamon's Twin.  The boys have been rough with her unlike Cinnamon whose feathers, so far, are in good shape.  Cinnamon's Twin also has lost a lot of weight.

"Baby Goose" is all grown up and still hanging around, but seems to have no friends.

And, here is a funny looking gadwall.  I think he might be in the middle of a molt or could be a mallard-gadwall hybrid with genes heavily on the gadwall side:

Junior and Killer Junior, the killdeers were having a lot of fun chasing and yelling at each other.  Shy's mate was really upset about a Cooper's hawk that was trying to attack him, but, then, went for some crows instead.  And, Squeak's eggs have all hatched and all the chicks have been moved to a secure location where people can't get to them.  Shy went with them, leaving her mate all alone.

RIP Big Daddy2 (Latte)

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.