San Diego Salt Works October 2014

Today was the first San Diego Salt Works tour of the 2014-2015 season.  There weren't a whole lot of birds seen today.  I put some photos of the highlights, except for the horned and eared grebes, of which they were plenty.  Also, I was too far for the black-bellied plovers and other small shorebirds.  And, I only heard 2 killdeer rather than the 50 or so that we usually see.

Migratory Savannah Sparrow

Assorted shorebirds, willets, stilts, red knots, etc

The tern congregation

Short-billed dowitchers

Dunlin and sandpiper

Least sandpiper

We sound a few sanderlings, including this one who was being very aggressive.  It was fun to watch them.

He is on a mission to chase all the other birds away or fight them if he can.

There were a few birdy tragedies.  A very sick grebe on the beginning of the walk, slowly dying and no one can help him because we were not allowed anywhere near the salt ponds.  There was also a deceased barn owl with an unknown cause of death.  

The peregrine was there as well as a few osprey and pelicans, too.  And, of course, hundreds of gulls, including one that looked like he was pulled under water by something!

Shorebird Counting Day

Today is the day where, once a year, Point Blue Bird Observatory counts all the shorebirds around San Diego Bay at the same time. I was assigned the Coronado Island area.

My day started out with a curlew, though with her head tucked in, she looked just like a marbled godwit:

There were a couple of short-billed dowitchers with her:

The other two in the group were marbled godwits for sure because at least one of them pulled their head out and I could see the long, pointed bill:

This kingfisher was spotted with a fish and she dropped it when she saw me coming.  Then, she sat on this light pole hoping I would leave so she could go back and get her fish:

There were a whole lot of shorebirds in that spot:

Close-up of a willet and two godwits:

Look at that middle godwit and how he puts his toes up when he walks across the rocks:

I went to another area and people were chasing the birds!  Oh no!  I asked them to stop and they did, but it was definitely an awkward and uncomfortable moment there for a few minutes.  All the birds came back, I think.  I'm glad because there were a whole lot of them:

And, a sanderling was with them, too:

Some of the godwits were having a disagreement, plus the tide was going up:

And, here is the sanderling again:

There were two spotted sandpipers there today.  I saw this one who might be a juvenile:

Oops, water going over his feet:

Oh no!  My feet are getting wet!

In other bird news, there were plenty of surf scoters around:

This one was showing off and following me around:

And buffleheads.  Lots of buffleheads and coots:

Sad day for Shy and Tom the Muscovy

Today is a sad day for Shy because two of her eggs were found smashed open, probably by a crow or blackbird. One egg was missing and another was pushed under the fence and could no longer be brooded. It looked like it happened yesterday evening as the ants had not gotten to them, yet, but it was starting to dry up. One egg still had an embryo that looked like it was about a week, more or less, developed. The dad was still around as was Shy's parents. Everyone seemed really somber. Shy probably went somewhere to reset her hormones so that she can try again. Hopefully, she and her mate will choose a better spot. There's no hope for her last egg, it was stone cold this morning. I pulled it out so it's more accessible to the father in case he decides to keep trying to brood it.

Tom hasn't been seen for almost two weeks now. No one who knows him has seen him, either. I thought I saw him in the brush in his napping area this morning, but it didn't look like he was alive. I think he might have died of old age in his sleep. I don't think a predator got him, just a peaceful death.

In the south bay

Today, I went to the Tijuana Estuary and the South Bay and took some photos of the birds.

He's a photo of a long-billed Curlew:



And, a couple of willets:






Here's a couple of cliff swallows gathering mud before a Cooper's hawk decided to try to get them for dinner:





At the Visitor's center of the Tijuana Estuary, I saw a Say's phoebe nest:



And, in the south bay, I saw a bunch of little shorebirds. Most of these are semi-palmated plovers, western sandpipers and sanderlings:



And, finally, a photo of what looks like to be a western sandpiper alone:

Hawks and Tiny's "Talent"

"Killer" watches out for hawks

Today, when I arrived at the lake, I think I saw Tiny and his mom, Martha, together, sleeping. They woke up and flew to another part of the bay. Tiny and Martha look so much alike in many ways, their breast bands are very similar and Tiny sometimes can look female in direct light, except you can see a little bit of a mustache growing. They have slightly different shaped heads, but are pretty close to the same size.

Tiny in the morning

Tiny and his mom

Hawk Scare

When I went to the ballpark area, I only found 7 killdeer and I think they were all adults. They were doing alarm deets and looking at me standing outside the fence. This was unusual as they don't usually get upset when I stand where I was standing. They were also hardly moving and then they began laying down in the grass. This is a sign that they are hiding from a visual predator such as a hawk. So, I looked around and found a Cooper's Hawk right above me. He swooped down to catch a grackle, who got away, and then perched right above my head. I thought of taking a photos, but decided not to.

I went away to check on the duckling, but he was not there, again. In fact, almost all the ducks were gone from that area save a couple of males and one female, not the duckling's mom. There were about twenty ducks laying on the shore in a closed area. I figured the duckling and his mom just went somewhere else due to the heat we've been having.

When I came back, the hawk was gone and so were all the killdeer and other birds. One male killdeer was there, alone when I went onto the field, but he flew over towards George's territory. Other killdeer were heard on Del Cerro and Cowles Point, most likely the adult chicks and, possibly, their mom.

When I was leaving, I was hoping to see George with Firecracker and Killer, but, instead, found the two brothers, Tiny and Killer comforting each other without a parent in sight. When Killer got a little nervous because of a dog passing by, he chirped to his brother and began walking towards him. Then, Tiny met him and did a trill, a greeting that I've heard the brothers do before. Trilling is usually associated with an angry killdeer, but I think, in this case, this was a happy sound they made to make sure neither of them wanted to fight.

Killer

His brother, Tiny

Tiny's "Talent":

I've heard of killdeer eating dead minnows before, but Tiny seems to have a knack for catching live ones. I've caught him, at least twice, catching minnows and even have a photo of him doing so:

Look! I caught a fish! Now, what do I do?

He seems to bite them through their middle, but the tail parts of the fish wrap around his nostrils and upper part of his bill. I believe he waits until the fish dies, rinses his bill and eats the remaining parts as they wash off. I never see him do anything different than any other killdeer in catching them, yet he seems to be able to. He must move quicker than the eye.

When another group of people walked by, including a little girl who was not very respectful of wildlife, they flew off. As I was leaving, I heard the aggressive deet sound and saw one killdeer chasing another. I think it was George chasing away one of the seven killdeer, most likely the lone bachelor, sending him back to the ballfield area. He even took a swipe at the intruder. I would bet that this male got a look at Firecracker and may have tried to steal her away, but dad said "no". Apparently, Firecracker said, "no" also as she didn't follow him.

A good thing about crows:

Crows have a bad reputation and I have to admit that they quite often deserve it. They attack and tease other birds for no reason. They also eat eggs and chicks and sometimes kill adult birds. But, one thing crows are good for is keeping birds of prey out of the area. A red-tail hawk was circling around George's territory, probably looking for squirrels or rabbits, but the crows attacked him. And, crows seem to know the difference between a hawk and a vulture, too. Two vultures were flying nearby, un-harassed, but the hawk was definitely unwelcome in the crows' area.

Also seen:

Cute, cute, cute: A sanderling family of 4!



They were adorable, bathing and being cute. I think two are juvenile.



Sanderlings are brave and not afraid of larger birds. I've seen them attack killdeer, who often gang up on them. They aren't even really afraid of people and not shy at all. And, they can be cute, too!