Surprise Baby Ducks

I was really surprised when I visited Lake Murray, last night, that not only were the two older ducklings doing well and the three very young ducks doing well, but I found a mother with ten ducklings that were at least five days old doing well.  I think the mom with ten might be Peaches's mother.

First, the two older ducklings. They are more and more looking like a male and a female. They reached their one month old mark today.

The three that I've seen before are still alive and well.

This is the mother duck whom I thought looked like Peaches' mother with the ten ducklings. The gulls seems to be strangely absent lately which is nice because I can enjoy the ducklings without worrying about them being snatched. The herons also appear to not be as active.

Someone was throwing bread at them, hence the bread in the next couple of pictures.

Then, all sets of ducklings disappeared into hiding. I didn't see them at all.

The youngest baby goose is beginning to look like a grown-up.

And, a surprise wood duck. This one looks like either Doodle's son or that one that used to chase Doodle around.

Busy day in George's territory

Martha, Killer and Digger

George had a lot of visitors in his territory at Lake Murray, unfortunately, someone came by as I was taking pictures, so I couldn't make out who everyone was. But, there were at least 7 killdeer there plus Bob1, the sandpiper.

George (in the background), rushes towards 2 other killdeer

Killer, George's son

Killer and Digger were there. Digger looked a little roughed up, but she might have been cold and had her feathers puffed out for warmth.

Digger

I saw the fat-banded male killdeer, one of the ballfield killdeer. I think the female next to him was Martha, but could possibly be Shy or Firecraker. I think Tiny and his mate were there, too.



The Three Musketeer ducks: Ducky was seen mating with the female of the group, though her brother wanted to participate. However, Ducky (and his sister) wouldn't let him. Ducky still hasn't gotten his green head and he still has the plumage of a young duck. He could have a little hybrid blood in him, or it might be due to his late hatching and he may get his full colors in the fall.



Tom was there and he was really hungry. He wouldn't stop following me around. There are new signs at the lake telling people not to feed the birds. They claim it's harassment of the animals and cite a fish and game hunting code about feeding animals. However, that code was meant to say that hunters may not feed animals for the purpose of attracting them to a spot where they can be hunted (or harassed), not to feeding birds in city parks or backyards.



Here's a pretty wood duck:




Oreo and Big Daddy 2:



Bigboi:





And Cinnamon:



Here she is with three of her suitors, two of which are "chocolate" ducks. The fourth suitor was not in the viewfinder of the camera. Cinnamon still calls for males to join her. I think she likes that crested Rouen, but he gave up on her a while back. I think the one nearest to her is Chocolate 1:




Not seen in a while: Curly. But, he disappears now and then.