Coyote Day and Lots of Thrashers

I got to see the coyotes today. They were very far away, but my friends pointed out this family of three hunting. I think they ended up catching a large rabbit. They're pretty small in the pictures, but you may be able to make them out.

In the first picture, there are actually two, but one is very hidden:

There's two in this next photo, too, one in the middle, one off to the upper left:

There are usually only two California thrashers at the lake, but today there were at least a dozen. These two, on the fence, were chasing each other:

This one didn't care about what the other two were doing. Also in the area was a very loud Costa's hummingbird:

It poured down rain a couple days ago. It rained so hard that I don't think even the ducks liked it. Here is Miss Angel and Mr. Squeaky trying to get out of the rain:

Pouring down rain in this photo. The coots are beginning to arrive. The ruddy ducks are already at the lake as are some teal and eared grebes:

The female goose has a companion. Someone dumped that male that's in the background of this next photo. I'm betting they were from the same owner as they've been best friends since day one.

Weird hairdos

These dumped crested Pekin ducks are really cute.  Too bad the gene for crests  in ducks is a nasty one.

I would name this one Leia, except it's a boy.

Here he is with some of his friends.  The other crested one is a female:

Hurt Wing is still alive and well!

I think she might have a new boyfriend:

I think this duck is either Neo or Indy's brother:

Lots of vultures hanging around, lately:

Fish Food Mama's Ducklings

Fish Food Mama, the mom of the three ducks Peaches, Caramel, and Butterscotch, is still doing well with her five little ducklings now about 9 days old.  I am so surprised that they have survived so long is such a dangerous location with herons, ravens, crows, gulls, and human children who like to chase and throw rocks and them.

Neo Update:


No sign of Neo's mom at all, but Neo seems to be healthy and not in distress.  He is now 25 days old and totally alone.  He comes out of his hiding place for about 10 to 15 minutes and then disappears.

Saw 4 baby green herons in the reeds, 3 of them pictured here:

Later, I came back and only saw one of them:

Squeak and Pollux are still taking care of their chicks, which are hiding:

Squeak

Pollux

I saw this California king snake.  Junior's mate was really upset about it as it is a threat to her chicks or eggs.  I didn't see it trying to get any chicks or eggs, it seemed to want to cross the road.

I also saw what I think might be Bob's mate and Bob herself nearby.

Foggy Morning at the Lake

I meant to post this yesterday, but I was having problems with Audio Swap and couldn't get the music on it.

Drizzy Day

Shy, all by herself

Today, I came late in the day. It has been drizzling hard all day and I have a feeling that it will be worse tomorrow, so I wanted to come tonight. I had to use my little flash, which I don't like to use because it sometimes bothers the birds and I don't want to hurt or bother them. Most of the time, they don't seem to notice, though.

I didn't check the ballfield area, but in George's area, I only saw one killdeer, a lone female. I am not sure, but I think it's Shy. It's unusual that she's alone, but I have been noticing that she has been staying away from her dad more and more. If he calls, she will come up to him, but otherwise she stays by herself or with Killer, whom I didn't see, also.

Shy

The water levels were high and George hates that. Also, where George goes, so does the rest of the family.

Also seen:

My sandpiper friend followed me around the lake





Also, the geese were in the middle of the road, gathering around this puddle when there's a big lake a few feet away. Later, they were all surrounding me, hoping for food. My allergies started to act up at that time.



These two ganders always try to bite me, the brown one has grabbed me once and pushed against me violently. But, usually he's OK if you don't get too close. I think he likes to chase and boss women around, mostly. No wonder why he has no girlfriends.



Tom was so hungry this afternoon, he kept looking at my camera bag hoping that there was food inside. There wasn't. A lot of people were probably not at the lake today due to the weather, so I think he and the geese were hungry.



I saw three wood ducks, two beautiful males and a female. Here is a male:



And, here is the female:




And, here's my lost baby ducky. He followed me everywhere today, all over the lake:

Brothers and Sisters, Mom and Dad

All the chicks seem to be fine, that I could see. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who is who when I see them, even with binoculars. So, I take photos of them and look at their breast bands and faces more closely for the subtle differences. But, when I first shoot those photos, I don't always know who is actually there.

In the morning, it looks like I first stumbled upon Tiny and his mom all puffed up and possibly sleeping. They flew away to another part of the same area and when I went over to that side, I assumed they were the only two killdeer there.

Martha and Tiny

The problem is that on a brown surface, like a lakeshore, killdeer almost become invisible. Luckily, they often stand by the water which makes them more visible against it. So, I shot pictures of what I thought were the same two killdeer. But, when I went home and looked at the photos, I could tell it was not the same two. The second set of photos I took look like Martha and Killer. Tiny was probably standing nearby, but I didn't expect to look for three, so I didn't see him or where he went. Therefore, when I witnessed some affectionate chirps between one and another, I originally thought that the brothers were getting along great, but it was really one chick calling after his mom and wanting to be with her.

Martha and Killer

Another photo of Martha and Killer

Later, dad was on duty along with Firecracker and Killer. All three look very similar with their markings except that one was a female. But, sometimes with shadows and if the light is in a certain angle, a female can look like a male and vice-versa, especially when there is high contrast. Dad always stays close to Firecracker, but watches over both chicks.

George watching over his children

Firecracker

Firecracker hiding behind a rock (sorta)

Killer trying to hide behind a rock, also.

When dad gets too close to one of his male chicks, he gets called at almost with a "kill-dee" sound, but not quite. It's almost like a territorial yell, but the notes aren't right and it's stopped short. There's no clucking or threat calls at all and no one gets chased. It may be a special call pleading for the resident male to not hurt him as he's just a baby and he's not a threat. When both brothers are together, it sounds closer to a territorial call, but always stopped short like it's saying "hey, you get out! Oh, sorry dad, didn't recognize you.".

I assume that whomever is missing is with the other parent.

A hawk scare?

When I was almost about to leave, the two young killdeer started making alarm calls and flew off, going around in a circle around the bay. I also saw several other birds like pigeons and grackles fly away from that area really fast. A few seconds after the young killdeer started flying around, I believe dad started after them. Two of them landed near where they were before, but one landed near a grassy area and the geese. Then, after a minute or two, the geese started running to the water. I didn't see anything other than a vulture fly by and the killdeer rarely react to them. Once in a while they do, but rarely, even the babies.

After it was all over, a killdeer chirped for everyone to get together (I assumed it was George calling for Firecracker, whom I think was the one who landed far away). I didn't go check on them as I was sure they were alright as they were the first to react to whatever it was. If it was a hawk, it probably made its strike and got what it wanted or moved on. It does bother me that the young killdeer were the first to fly off because it makes them easy targets for a hawk who likes to catch its food in the air. Maybe that's why George went after them to bring them back to the ground. Hopefully the killdeer moved out of the way of the panicking geese.

Ballpark killdeer flock:

Today, there were two killdeer missing when I first saw the group, but they were both on Cowels and Del Cerro Point. Later, one other killdeer flew away, making the total 8 when I left. It's hard to approach them close enough to get photos unlike when they are near water, so I have a hard time identifying individual ones. When I first arrived, I did see a young killdeer, a male, foraging in the field. I think that could be "Secret" and "Secret" is a male--not a female. It's possible since I never got to see him as a chick. This can be good, we've got two males and a female on one side of the lake and two females and a male on another. Maybe they'll get together.

Also seen:

Flycatcher, the almost grown duckling was seen today. I think I may have even seen a sibling or two of hers show up on the scene, also. However, the young duckling, who would now be two weeks old, was not seen. I was really sad as I look forward to him coming up to me every time I'm there. But, the weather patterns have changed and I think a lot of ducks have gone elsewhere for shade and to keep cool. Hopefully the little duckling is still around. I thought I saw his mom, but she would have come up to the shore when I threw some peas in, so I don't think it was her. A lot of ducks were missing this day, probably due to the hot weather.

Flycatcher

Two sandpipers were seen and they were fighting. I've never seen two sandpipers at this lake together. They were still in their breeding colors, but are starting to get grayer.