Hooded oriole nests and other birds

Today, I discovered at least two hooded oriole nests at the lake.  I've been passing by this one all summer and watching the male be aggressive towards other birds, but never saw this nest until today.  The only reason why I saw it was because the almost-grown babies were so loud and boisterous.

While I was there, the mom came and fed the babies, but I don't see an opening.  It almost appears as if she fed them through the nest.  The opening is supposed to be at the top of the nest, but I didn't see her go near there.  This reminds me of a weaver bird nest.    I couldn't get a photo of mom feeding them.   I left and came back a little later and dad was in the area. He was only tolerant of me being there for a minute, then got upset, so I left.

I don't like to "park" myself at nests like I've seen some people do just to get a photo.  I try to only stay a short time, then leave.  I don't want to do anything that would draw attention to the nest and "parking" at a nest site, in plain view, puts the nestlings at risk of being noticed by predators.

Mama osprey was up on a branch watching the fish jumping around in the water.  There were some fishermen in a boat "pushing" the fish and causing them to come to the surface a little more.

I only see the mom hanging around, no sign of her mate.  The two babies had a bad fate.  One couldn't fly and is doing OK in a wildlife rehabilitation center.  The other had to be euthanized due to a severe fishing line injury.

Here's a photo of two of the three baby coots who seem to be getting along better nowadays.  The other one was in a different spot nearby.  I think that one is the youngest and still being fed by his parents.

On the other side of the lake, I met someone from Project Wildlife who was releasing a couple of ducklings back to the lake.  The first ducks, a regular-sized mallard looked around for a few minutes and took off quickly.  It got chased around by a coot a bit, but he quickly hid, only the sounds of his little feet paddling could be heard until he found a safe spot.  The second duck was a hybrid that looked a lot like Cinnamon!

Unfortunately, she kept following people around, so she was caught and taken back home and will be released at a farm, instead.  Though she and the other duckling were handled and treated the same way, she has too much domestic duck in her and would rather be with people.  This is a reminder not to dump domestic ducks in a wild area as they create these hybrids who have a slim chance of survival and a shortened lifespan.

Snowie's last baby

Sadly, Snowie's weak duckling didn't make it through the weekend and now she only has one baby left, pictured above.  But, on the positive side, because mom and sibling don't have to stop foraging and rest so often, the remaining baby is eating voraciously and growing quickly.  He is still about a week behind in growth and may end up being a small adult, if he survives, but he's starting to catch up.

This particular mother doesn't make demands of her ducklings, but, instead, shadows and shows them where to eat, following the duckling's cues as to where he wants to go instead of directing him.  This duckling is beginning to get his smarts and is starting to realize when it's not safe and moving to another area if he's uncomfortable.  He's very healthy, so, hopefully, he'll make it to adulthood.

He looks a lot like his mama.  I'm not sure what breed she is, but she and her mate looks a lot like bantam appleyards mixed with mallards.  At one time, I thought they were snowy mallards or Welsh harlequins, but I can now see the appleyard in them.  But, the babies definitely have a lot of mallard in them, too.

This is dad and he's not interested in mom or babies anymore because his hormones have begun to diminish.  Right now, he wants to groom his new feathers coming in:

The baby coots were nearby making calls.  I rarely ever see their parents around.  They sometimes fight with each other.

This is a juvenile pied-billed grebe sunning himself on a rock.  Mom was nearby.

For all you perching bird fans, here's a very territorial and aggressive hooded oriole.  He does NOT like the grackles, which are potential chick eaters.  That could be why no grackles or other blackbirds are breeding in this particular tree this year.

I didn't see any females around, but I'm sure his aggressive displays are to show any prospective females, hiding nearby, what a good protector and father he is.

I think we need loads more of him and kingbirds to keep the grackles and crows in check.

I think this might be Gaddy's (the gadwall's) sister.  I haven't seen her in a long time, I think she left the lake to breed somewhere else.  She was laying funny in the water when I first saw her, so I hope she's OK.  She also might be an early migrating female and not a native of the lake at all.

If she's the native girl, I can see that she still likes the mallard boys.  I wonder if she had any hybrid ducklings:

July Counting Day!

I decided to do some bird counting today because my work and exercise schedule would make it difficult to to it until the middle of the month.  Usually, I don't like to count right before a holiday because it gets busy the few days leading up to the holiday.

There are at least a dozen western grebes still at the lake, enjoying themselves in the water.

Here is a photo of a male nutmeg manikin guarding the large nest on the upper right side of the photo.  I don't know much about manikins and their nests, but there appeared to be at least two females hovering and hopping around it.

This was a funny scene before this photo was taken.  At one moment, a guy was fishing, but the view of him was blocked by a tree.  Next thing I know, I see this gull hanging onto a fish and I thought maybe he was trying to steal the fisherman's catch and was being reeled in.  Nope, he grabbed this himself, brought it to shore, and began to eat it all by himself.  I think this is a western gull, but he looks a lot like a herring gull:

We have a new dumped duck at the lake.  He is a three month old Indian runner drake.  He was eating all kinds of things that were bad for him because he didn't know what he was supposed to eat.  He even swallowed a cigarette butt which could make him extremely ill.

He found a couple of mallard friends around his own age that are showing him a little bit about food.  But, he's extremely hungry.

Snowie is down to four ducklings.  At first, I thought the weak duckling was the one that is missing, but he's there in the bottom of the photo.  Snowie is not being a great mama and lets her ducklings swim and run all over the place, leaving them vulnerable to gulls that can grab them from the water.  These ducklings are just over a week old now.

I found the mama with one duckling at the "duck bench" doing OK.  I also found the mama who had the two ducklings on the same side of the lake and she's down to one, also.  I did not see the mama with the two ducklings from the other side of the lake.

And, finally, I saw this beautiful hooded oriole watching over two females in his spot.

I forgot to add that I saw two male Allen's hummingbirds, but they were too fast to photograph.

That's not all the birds I counted, but the highlights of my counting day.