Del Mar Fair

I assure you, there will be birds in this post.  :)

I went to the Del Mar Fair today (actually, it's called the San Diego County Fair).

But, first, I started with the horse show.  I really liked this horse, he seemed so relaxed.  Unfortunately, I think he had problems with listening to commands and they got last place.

This lady and her horse got first place:

I then visited the chicken pens and saw this perfect bantam rooster:

This year, there were ducks!  This is a beautiful Cayuga duck, but he was a bit stressed out:

There were also three call ducks that were fairly relaxed:

Then, it was on to the butterfly tent:

In the nearby lagoon, there were lots of ducklings.  Amazingly, they were growing up relaxed.  I guess the gulls and herons in the area really haven't put a lot of pressure on them in this spot:

This mother duck seemed to be co-parenting with another female, perhaps her mother or sister:

A mom and an older duckling:

And, there were black necked stilt:

He had a family with a little chick (and a killdeer for company).  Actually, they had two chicks:

Hiding from me:

Visiting dad:

The killdeer had her own nest, too, with three eggs:

There was another nest in an area with the ducklings:

There was also a ruddy duck in breeding colors, but he wasn't too keen on me taking his picture:

There was also another killdeer nest (or chicks) and I think an avocet nest.  Boy, those killdeer did NOT like that avocet, though I don't think the avocet is a threat except that it would chase any chicks away from its nest (which it might have been doing when I saw the killdeer have a fit while it was walking around the area).

Lake updates

I still only see two chicks.  However, though it's really hard to be totally sure from all the photos I took, it appears that the two chicks in the ballfield, today, are the two female chicks.  So, today, the male chick is nowhere to be seen.  One chick seems to be more mature than the other:

It was cloudy when I first arrived.  I didn't see any heron chicks, but found this adult heron.  I did see one chick later on.  However, about 100 yards from the heron nest were all these mostly eaten parts of what looks like a wood duckling, baby coot, and even a pigeon.  The duckling might have been another baby coot.  I know the red-shouldered hawk likes to roost in that tree, so I'm thinking that he raided the heron's larder as I've seen him in their tree now and then.

Neo was finally seen close enough for me to get a photo of him.  He is 38 days old now and is very feathered out for this age.

His bill is also turning very green, usually something that doesn't happen until at least seven weeks.  I can already see no distinguishing marks on his bill, so after he matures, I may not be able to distinguish him from the others.

I found this mama with one duckling, possibly about three weeks old, in the drainage ditch.

Fish Food Mama's ducklings were seen.  Here are four, Indy was just out of the photo:

Here is Indy:

Mom and the duckling that likes to stay near her:

This squirrel was really upset with me and made it clear that he thought I was a danger by screaming at me.

Big Daddy has decided to join Cinnamon's group and follow her around.  It seems like Stubby was displaced:

The smaller duck was warned away by the bigger duck when he passed close by:

Two baby coots nearby:

Finally, we say good-bye to this wonderful little ruddy duck.  I don't know what happened to him, he was found near where the duckling or baby coot parts were.  Some of his feathers look like they got plucked, but otherwise he was intact and it didn't look like he had any injuries.  He was also found on the opposite side of bay from where he usually hangs out.  It's possible the red-shouldered hawk attacked him, but he doesn't look like he's been attacked.  I thought it was strange that he was still at this lake this time of year when all the other ruddy ducks had left.  He also slept a lot, too, and wasn't getting into his adult colors as fast as he should.  Perhaps he was old and it was his time to go.

Another thing I noticed was a lot of feathers in one area and I can't figure out who they belonged to.  They kinda look like gadwall feathers and the gadwall was missing, but he was also in molt and his feathers had changed.  I also didn't see the Pekin and Swedish duck in that area, which is also strange.  Hopefully, they are OK.  In another area, I saw several small white feathers near where the snowy egret likes to fish.  They seemed to be too small to be egret feathers, but it's the only explanation.  I think something got him, too, or he was attacked and went to another area.

A day at Famosa Slough

It stopped raining long enough to go on the monthly bird walk at Famosa Slough.

First, here are a bunch of American avocets.  Also around the same spot are a whole bunch of killdeer.

Willet:

Eared grebe:

American kestrel:

Blue-winged teal:

Ruddy ducks:

Northern pintails:

Also seen was a peregrine falcon, black-crowned night heron, great blue heron, kingfisher, black and Say's phoebe, but NO stilts!

More ruddy ducks!

I saw lots more ruddy ducks today, mostly juvenile and female. They seem to be coming out of the woodwork and are everywhere around the lake:



Also, I finally got a shot of that kingfisher, though it's a little blurry:



Here he goes:



I only saw two killdeer, a male and a female, both at the ballfield and behind a fence. I suspect that they're the M6 dad and Shy or Digger. The male is looking very beat up with a lot of scars. I feel kinda sorry for him because all he's doing is protecting his little baby girl.



Bad news about the loon:

The loon I saw a couple of days ago died peacefully soon after I took his photo. I have to admit he didn't look good that day. I didn't take a photo of him today though he looked healthier dead than he did alive. No signs of trauma or struggle. It's too bad that he made it all the way here and only lived a short time. Hopefully, more healthy loons will arrive soon.

Update on duck with fishing hook:

I don't think I saw her today, though I did see two females that looked similar, but with no injuries to their feet. I hope she got help and is doing OK. There is one young male that has a line wrapped tightly around his foot who can hardly stand, but won't let anyone catch him. I'm hoping he doesn't lose his foot.

Injured duck alert! Also, it's getting loony!

There is a cute, friendly female mallard at Lake Murray (in San Diego) with what looks like a fishing hook in her leg/foot. I tried to catch her, but she got suspicious of me and went across the lake. She seems mostly OK, just limping. I am not sure if the hook can be removed without a vet.



I originally thought it was Flycatcher, but she's doing just fine.



Also, all three "Fish Food" ducklings are doing well, too.



And, here is Chocolate 2 (the female):



"Ducky" (the lost duckling) is a girl! Here she is:



I thought she would be a boy with her green bill. There's another female duck that I thought might be a male, but she is definitely a female and starting to flirt.


Also seen:

Several ruddy ducklings:



The pretty female gadwall:



And, a first for me, a common loon:

The killdeer were nowhere to be seen, but I heard at least 2, one near where George likes to hide and another near the ballfields.