Update on Trouble and Peaches

I didn't realize I went so long without updating everyone on the ducks at the lake.

First, I wanted to update everyone on Boat Dock Peaches and her ducklings.  A few days after my last post, Peaches only had one duckling.

I wasn't able to visit the lake until much later and she had no ducklings left at all.

Trouble gave me a good close-up.  He is so curious about everyone and all the other ducks:

He was beginning to get a little errant feather right where the back of his head and neck meet.

I saw him a little bit later and he had grown.  But, he was so far away I couldn't see any details.  A week or so later, I looked for him at least twice and didn't see anything that looked like the duck in the photos above.  The closest I've seen is the duck pictured below.  He's only slightly larger than Trouble and has the errant feather and correct head and body shape.  But, appears to be a much older duck.  I have a feeling that this might not be Trouble and Trouble may have passed on.  But, I know of no other ducks that are the same size and shape that Trouble was.

Ducky Ducky looks a lot better and has even gained a little weight.

The two wood ducks, old and new, are still there.  The younger one is getting his drake colors again while the older one looks like he's not going to be full colored anymore, but still looks healthy.

Wednesday, I found this recently released rehabbed mallard acting weird.  I thought she was sick.  But, she was actually hooked together by a nasty 8-pronged fishing hook and lure.  I'm so glad I asked for help with her because I thought she was sick and dying.  She was unhooked and all the hooks were removed and she was re-released.

RIP Big Bumblefoot:

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine rescued Big Bumblefoot to help him with his foot infections.  When she couldn't find the source of the infections, it was agreed that she would keep him comfortable.  I told her that I didn't think he would live a lot longer.  I actually expected him to live anywhere from 3 months to about a year.  Unfortunately, he died about 8 or 9 days later.  But, during that time, he was spoiled and loved upon.  He died in his sleep in comfort.  His new owner was disappointed that he couldn't enjoy his retirement longer.

This picture was taken only a couple of days before he was rescued.  He had an awesome temperament and loved being with people.

Old and young generation wood ducks

I thought I would post this photo of Doodle's Son, an older wood duck, and a younger one, perhaps Doodle's grandson.  They seem to be best buddies.  I haven't seen any wood duck females at Lake Murray in a long time.

Update on Ducky Ducky:

Several attempts were tried to catch Ducky Ducky who is totally beaten up and not doing well.  But, all were unsuccessful.  However, someone wanted to help out Big Bumblefoot with his infected feet, so he was caught instead.  However, his feet are so bad that the only option for him is a series of painful surgeries that the lady who is caring for him thinks would not be humane.  So, Big Bumblefoot is going to stay at her house in comfort with good food and plenty of attention until he passes away.

Big Bumblefoot

Counting Day!

Today is the day I counted the birds at Lake Murray as I have done every month for the last two or three years.  I don't know how much longer I am going to do my monthly counts, but I plan to do at least the next one for the Great Backyard Bird Count in February.

My day started out with the usual birds, but a big lack of mallards.  One of my first neat birds to see was the eared grebe in the photo above.

I also heard the "Mystery Warbler" (Possibly a Virginia's warbler) call for a few seconds lately.

I checked on all the domestic ducks and all were fine, but Bumblefoot's foot infection is really bad.  It must hurt as he doesn't even want to put her foot under her body.  The rough ground probably doesn't help, either.

Here's a close-up of it.  It really is nasty and she doesn't have a lot longer to live if she doesn't get treatment for it soon.  Otherwise, she is in good spirits and has normal energy and appetite.

The call duck mix seems to be all better now and is no longer tucking his tail in.  I don't think he needs a rescue anymore.

Gaddy and his girlfriend.  You can always tell which gadwall is Gaddy because he's always with this female mallard no matter what.  Sure, he likes to stray off an look at other girls and pick fights with the males, but he always stays close to her.

Oreo has managed to get into Cinnamon's inner circle and seems to almost be her new fifth boyfriend.

But, as she and her other boyfriends leave the area, he stays behind near where his friend died, circling around.  Eventually, he followed Cinnamon, but seemed really hesitant to do so.

Later, I saw him across the lake looking at the 10 Pekins over there. I wonder if he was looking for his friend or for a new friend.

Here are the results of today's count:

3	Canada Goose
10	Gadwall
201	Mallard
37	Mallard (Domestic type)
2	Cinnamon Teal
14	Northern Shoveler
354	Lesser Scaup
2	Bufflehead
23	Ruddy Duck
6	Pied-billed Grebe
2	Eared Grebe
1	Western Grebe
15	Western/Clark's Grebe
56	Double-crested Cormorant
3	American White Pelican
1	Great Blue Heron
1	Snowy Egret
1	Green Heron
10	Turkey Vulture
1	Osprey
1	Cooper's Hawk
1	Red-shouldered Hawk
280	American Coot
24	Ring-billed Gull
27	Western Gull
13	California Gull
1	Glaucous-winged Gull
34	Rock Pigeon
43	Mourning Dove
70	Anna's Hummingbird
5	Nuttall's Woodpecker
3	Black Phoebe
2	Cassin's Kingbird
11	American Crow
2	Common Raven
169	Bushtit
2	Marsh Wren
7	Bewick's Wren
1	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
3	California Gnatcatcher
1	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1	Hermit Thrush
20	European Starling
1	Orange-crowned Warbler
1	Virginia's Warbler Vocal only. Same bird heard/seen in previous months mentioned in previous eBird reports. Only gave a short, 15 second call one time before disturbed by nearby human activity. Though it is staying around the same general area as before, it has become almost non-vocal over the last few weeks.
6	Common Yellowthroat
330	Yellow-rumped Warbler Conservative count. Every bird counted was individually sighted and/or heard.
1	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) Similar to Audubon's warbler, except with a white throat.
6	California Towhee
63	Song Sparrow
83	White-crowned Sparrow
30	Red-winged Blackbird
63	Brewer's Blackbird
40	Great-tailed Grackle
134	House Finch
79	Lesser Goldfinch

Another duck rescue, and more duckling photos!

This morning, I found Louie the gander with three new Pekin ducks that look like they had just gotten dropped off.  I thought they were two males and one female.  Louie was standing over the one that looked like a female who was very injured and couldn't walk.  I think I saw Louie make an aggressive move towards her, but he may have been protecting her, it's hard to say.  I thought, at first, she was over-bred by the two males, but now I'm wondering if Louie attacked her as the two males later turned out to be females.

I separated her and managed to find someone to come down and get her.  At first, we couldn't find her, but, later, I found that she had gone back to her two sisters who were panting in the warm day.  Unfortunately, the person who took her didn't have room to take all three.  So, instead of taking two and leaving one alone, we decided it was best to let the two healthier ones stay there.  I am worried about the other two as they seemed really hot and seemed to have no desire to go into the water even though they knew where the water was. When their sister left the lake in a van, they ran around quacking after her for a few minutes.

Here is a picture of her:

The gadwall is spending time across the lake.  He seems to really like this female mallard:

I also saw "Not Pepper":

But, I didn't see the real Pepper and it worries me because it's been a while since he has missed a day where he has been seen.

I think this might be Miracle:

And, Killer Jr.  But, it could also be the male that was in the ballfield and another, unrelated female.  They seemed to be especially bothered by this guy fishing in the area in his inner tube type of float.  I don't know if they just find his flotation device strange or what.

Now for the ducklings.  Fish Food Mama's ducklings are all alive and well and two weeks old today.  However, several cats were seen hunting only ten or fifteen feet away from where the family was feeding this morning.

I also saw the mom with four ducklings (now down to three) and I saw Neo who is also doing well, but didn't have my camera at the time I saw them.  Neo's mom's mate is being a little aggressive with Neo, though.  He is a month old now and will probably be completely independent in a few more weeks.

Former Easter duck dies right before rescue

Hi everyone!  For some really odd reason, this post got deleted.  I don't know if it's against Google policy to report on animal cruelty or something.  I have no idea why.  I will try to track down all the photos I had.  Not only was the story about the duck, but about some killdeer, too!

The story was that this beautiful buff duck, once someone's Easter pet, was dropped off last year.  She and her companions did fine until breeding season started.  Two days before these photos were taken, she was injured, possibly when some other males ganged up on her.  I called a duck rescuer and she agreed to come pick her up on Friday, two days later.  I called the rescuer, Kim, to tell her that the duck was still alive and where to find her.  I then went on my walk, but remembered to take these photos because I knew it would be the last time I saw her.

About 20 minutes before the rescuer arrived, the duck was found dead and removed by Lake Murray staff.  The staff member said that it appeared that stuff was coming out of her, most likely from trying to pass a crushed or under-developed egg that couldn't be passed due to her injuries.  When the rescuer came, she was gone.

Here she is spending her last living moments with the two males she has known all her life.

Here they were when they first arrived, happy and fat.  Since the time that this photo was taken, the two males have lost half their body size.  They now live alone in the same area where they lived with the buff.

I don't think she was even a year old when she died.

I will try to track down the rest of the photos I took that day.