Allen's and Costa Hummingbirds (and ducks)

Allen's hummingbird

It's very unusual to see any kind of hummingbird other than Anna's in San Diego.  We are said to have the most Anna's hummingbirds in the entire United States.  But, today, several Allen's hummingbirds, males and females, were seen.  I had a hard time getting good photos of them.  I think I also saw one Rufous hummingbird as well.

The next photo is blurry, but you can definitely tell that it is a male Allen's hummingbird:

Here is a female Costa's hummingbird which is more common in this area, but still fairly rare.

Also seen today was about 20 or more California quail, mostly females and juveniles:

They quickly ran/flew and hid from me:

I saw Pepper today, but he was acting strange.  I think he had a feather stuck to his bill and it was annoying him:

And, Zippy, Skippy, and Yellowcheeks were all seen.  The ducklings are now 6 weeks old.  Zippy seems a little tired.

Fish Food Mama and Peaches were hanging out together this morning and I found Bigboi in the same area.

And, the three "boys", Pollux, his son and his baby brother had moved to another ballfield.  Here is a couple of photos of what I think might be Pollux's son, but he also looks a lot like Peanut, except the head shape is different.

I think I heard Killer Jr. and his family moving closer to the ballfield where Pollux used to be.  It's possible that is why they moved to this area, to keep their distance from the other family.

Counting Day

Today was my monthly counting day at Lake Murray.  I saw some new types of birds today.

One bird I saw was a canvasback.  I think it's been years since I've seen one there.

I saw this hummingbird acting very different than all the Anna's hummingbirds in the area.  Instead of singing and fighting, she basically scolded everyone and chirped aggressively.  I thought maybe it was a Costa's as they are seen from time to time in the area, so I took a photo to make sure.  But, when I got home, I noticed that the undersides were a pale orange.  I think it's a calliope hummingbird, but it's a little too big.  It's possibly a Allen's or rufous hummingbird.

Here are the last of the gadwalls this year.

Coot fight!

Pepper ran up to me as soon as I called him and posed for his picture.

Quacker was standing on an overturned boat at the dock, but was nowhere to be seen later on.

I found 15 vultures all around where I last saw Spoonface (Bossy).  I think they just like that spot and weren't there because anything was dead.