Mrs. Pekin gets rescued and Snowie Baby Update

I finally was able to catch Mrs. Pekin and take her to a new home.  She was traumatized from the experience and was really scared being at the new place all alone.  But, seemed to be OK and even started eating and drinking.  She's being treated for her wounds and given vitamins.  However, she's having problems breathing and may be sick.

This morning, I found her mate, Mr. Pekin alone and looking for Mrs. Pekin.  I told him she's not coming back, though she misses him.  He left the area shortly afterwards and seemed sad.

These three ducks were following Mr. Pekin around, but they seemed like they weren't being aggressive.  I think they were trying to cheer him up and wanted to be with him.  But, he didn't want to be near them.

A surprise!  Sissy Duck is alive and not in bad shape. I saw her being attacked by the same duck that was attacking Mrs. Pekin the night I caught her and injured another wild mallard.

Runner Duck came to her aid.

Snowie is down to one baby and Runner Duck, unfortunately, keeps trying to attack her when she's on the lawn.  The thing is, when he can't get to her, he attacks the baby when she flies off.  I don't know how much longer her baby is going to make it.

The other baby that was stolen from her is doing well and is having no problems:

The Canada goose family is still with five goslings:

I saw these two Pekins last week, but thought they were with the other groups.  Nope, they're new.  That makes 11 adult male Pekin ducks:

The mom with three ducklings, two big and one small, is still around.  The babies are about five weeks old now and love to dive after their food.

I saw both baby ospreys flying from the nest.  Here they are with Mom osprey:

When the babies were in the nest alone, Mom kept watch on them:

Tiny and a peregrine falcon

Peregrine falcon (sorry for the blur, the camera focused on the branches in front)

I guess there's a time in all young killdeer lives where they have to deal with falcons. Falcons are, afterall, a killdeer's #1 enemy. Falcons seem to prefer killdeer over many other birds and will actively seek them out if they think they're around. So, while I was glad that I saw Tiny today, in his dad's feeding area, I am concerned that he may not be able to meet this challenge.

Tiny was all alone, no sign of his mom and girlfriend. It's possible that his girlfriend is hanging out in their selected breeding area, perhaps getting ready for their new brood. Or, perhaps Martha, Tiny's mom, was right about the female and she never had her eye on Tiny as a mate, but George instead. We shall see. In the meantime, Bob1, the sandpiper, was keeping Tiny company, though she left him when too many people began hanging around.



Poor Tiny, I don't know if he was scared of the egret, who started stalking/shoving him away, or was lonely. When I left, he because to do "deet" calls. Tiny hides really well, so I'm sure he'll be OK.

Here's a photo of the falcon. I almost missed him because a few minutes before, I was looking at a male cooper's hawk and thought this was him. I went to feed the ducks and sat down and decided to look at him through some binoculars. This guy was watching me, then quietly snuck away. Unfortunately, a branch was in the way and the camera focused on the branch. Also, I had to use a fill-flash/brightness adjusted because he was back-lit by the sun.


This explains the pile of coot feathers I have been seeing lately in that area. I hope that Flycatcher, Caramel, Cinnamon and the chocolate ducks will be OK as they're all under his nose. The falcon doesn't seem to be hanging out in George and Tiny's area, but that doesn't mean he won't or can't.

All the other killdeer, the M6 family and the ballfield killdeer, doves, starlings, quail, and blackbirds have all disappeared within a 2 or 3 mile radius.

Also seen:

Some gadwalls (I know the date says 2010, but old habits die hard):



A gold-crowned sparrow:



Curly, whom I fed today. He's having a conference with the coots:



Some vultures hanging out. There's been a lot of casualties, probably due to the weather. This has included a few ducks, but none of the lake "favorites".



And, finally, an osprey with a fish (which a seagull tried to steal later):

Coot getting better, hawk almost catches a yellowlegs

The coot that got attacked and almost drowned survived the night and is actually doing better. This morning, he was eating with the other coots and using his leg, though it was obviously sore and he couldn't put any weight on it. It also looked like some feathers were lost or torn off on his hindquarters. Later, I saw him with his friends bullying other coots, so I think he's almost back to normal.

Having trouble walking, but otherwise OK

Here is a video I took with my 2.1MP camera this morning when the ducks and coots were being fed.

Good news: I found a better camera I could use, still no sound, though.

On the other side of the lake, there were over a dozen killdeer in the ballfields. I saw the Old Male killdeer (M4 male) and, I think, Mary with a couple of other females in one ballfield, I think one of the other females might be Digger. I couldn't take any photos because the gates were locked at the time..

In another field, there were at least 6 killdeer there including one that looked like a young version of Mary, but the head shape was different. I think Secret and his mom (the M6 mom, mother to Shy and Digger, too) was also in that same field as well. Secret's mom did not approve of the other females in that field. One couple ended up leaving and going to where some wood-chips were and I almost didn't see them.

Secret's mom and another female that she doesn't approve of

Secret, the female and Secret's mom

Young female, perhaps Bo or Mary's daughter

Young male, perhaps the young female's brother

Shy and her dad were all alone in another field.

Shy's dad

Shy

I think I saw a Cooper's hawk zoom by in that area. Earlier, I saw one attack two kingfishers, but was not successful.

Back in George's territory, there were no killdeer, but many ducks and coots were swimming under the trees because the water level was so high. The osprey was there, seemingly watching the coots, but, according to the experts, they're not interested in anything except fish. Of course, experts could be wrong. The raptor dropped into the water very close to the coots and, I think, got a small fish, though it really looked like he was going to catch a coot when he dropped. He flew over to another area, but was attacked either by a crow or the Cooper's hawk.

The osprey, sitting in a tree over the coots

Flying away

Later, I heard and saw 7 greater yellowlegs flying over. I could see that a small Cooper's hawk was trailing them, but they were way ahead, so I wasn't worried at first. They came into Alvarado Bay and began flying back and forth, never really settling. Then, one of the Cooper's hawk began to chase them viciously and came within an inch of catching one. One yellowlegs seemed to hit the water, but most have gotten back out because I went to see if I could find it and there was no sign of anything on the water's surface. I think all 7 yellowlegs got away. The hawk gave up and soared around before going somewhere else.

4 of 7 yellowlegs, trying to keep away from the hawk

The vultures soared over looking for hawk casualties.

Also seen:

Here are some ducks, such as Flycatcher and her sisters and brothers, sitting under a tree. This is their usual spot to rest, but it was flooded:

The duck's usually resting place was flooded

While I was taking photos of the ducks, my sandpiper friend snuck up on me, but turned around when I noticed him. Here he is hunting bugs:

Gotta get those bugs

Also, I saw this beat-up butterfly. I think it's a painted lady, but I'm not sure:



This seagull was on top of a picnic table shelter:



And, I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, I think it's a female kingbird:

Osprey Day

George races the egret

Today is a tropical feeling day and we have some tropical moisture moving over us. It rained early in the morning and it looks like it will rain in the afternoon, too.

The killdeer are all moving around all over the place and I think I even saw some new "faces" around the lake. Killer still seems to be hopelessly in love with Shy and follows her around. Lately, he seems to be sticking up to her dad, but still hesitant to fight him.

Tiny, I think

Killer

Martha has been around with Firecracker and I think I even saw Digger, Shy's sister, too. She looks a lot like George. When I arrived, she came to greet me, first.

Martha, Firecracker and, I think, Digger

Osprey:

The lake osprey was very active today and I got several shots of him. He was hanging around where the juvenile male Cooper's hawk used to hang around (I haven't seen the hawks, lately, though) and where the killdeer chicks hatched.






Also seen:

This may possibly be the baby duck that I used to see when I sat on a bench and watched him play around me until he disappeared just over a month ago. I think he's about seven weeks old now:



Also, this handsome mallard couple:



And, a Western kingbird. These birds look similar to a Say's phoebe except it's slightly larger, a more elongated shape, different bill shape, and the gray "hood" is more rounded at the bottom rather than an inverted triangle.


A juvenile red-tailed hawk was also seen, but didn't get a photo. He was being shadowed by the osprey. I think he wanted squirrels.