Sissy Returns and Other Birdy Happenings

Sissy, the buff duck, seems to have returned from her three-month absence in the reeds at Lake Murray. She had no ducklings this year. Her sister, Pumpkin, has not been seen or heard, yet, but she may still be in there as she often comes out after Sissy leaves.

This poor duck's eyes are swollen shut. I saw him a week later and they were less swollen, but he still had problems seeing. I haven't seen him recently. I thought maybe he was having severe mite problems, but now I think he got stung by a bee or spider.

At my home, we had a baby dove fledge and leave for good. Here's a photo of him still in the nest with his dad.

In sad news, I think something happened to that one young goose that was always lagging behind and who couldn't fly out with the others. This looks like a Canada goose wing, but it's all folded up and missing the "fingers". If I were to unfold this, it would be pretty big, so it rules out any of the ducks or other birds. I'm thinking he died in the water or the reeds. I found it near where he was last seen. I thought I he finally got away because the next time I went to that area, all the other geese were hanging out there.

In other sad news, I think I found out what happened to Miss Skeeter. I found a lot of light-brown feathers in the same area where Mr. Squeaky was found. This area is in a direct line from where I last saw her. I think the feathers were out there for at least a month or six weeks which would put them back to when I got the last report of her in late July.

Just a little update

Though migration is going strong and there are tons of birds at Lake Murray right now, pretty much blanketing the water and trees, I haven't been taking too many photos in the last week or two.  I should take more.  Tomorrow, I am thinking of doing a bird count, so if I see anything rare, I will try to photograph it.

It looks like Smudge and her mate have three young killdeer with them.  There is either a male Cooper's hawk or a female sharp-shin hanging out in the area. I think it's a Cooper's hawk, but can't really see it because he won't stay still.

These three youngsters are in a fear-crouch.  They were screaming earlier.

Big Sissy has been renamed Pumpkin and she's been out in the open more often instead of hiding in the reeds all day.

Little Sissy is still known as Sissy (she is in the back of the photo).  Yesterday, I was really worried as she was having trouble breathing and was gaping and coughing. She seemed to get better after a few minutes, but I'm still worried.  Life in the wild is rough and one can't stay sick for long out there.

Trouble has found some mallard friends, mostly young mallards and maybe his brothers.

He's still very small, though, compared to the others his age.

Baby gull is sick

The big juvenile western gull at Lake Murray was found mostly paralyzed and weak this morning.  A worker moved him aside and I checked on him after two hours.  He was still in the same spot, not moving.  But, if you tried to touch him, he was ready and willing to bite.

Karen, who works for the water department, donated some money and he was taken to Project Wildlife for care.  Botulism or a bacterial infection may be the cause as it is not uncommon with birds who eat crustaceans.  

I am not a huge fan of gulls because they eat small birds, baby birds, and eggs, but they deserve to live like anything else does and they are only trying to survive.  I'm sure the animals don't like a lot of things that people do, too.

Also seen today were the herons on their nest.  There was a third heron nearby, but I think it was one of last year's offspring.  It didn't seem to have a mate.  Last year, there were two pairs, but one pair lost their eggs/chicks very early. 

I saw this black-crowned night heron in a tree, trying to sleep.

Somebody complained about the osprey nest being an eyesore because they never use it.  While they don't raise chicks in the nest, they do like to use it for resting and eating.

These lesser scaup were really friendly.  Usually, when they first arrive at the lake, they're very scared of everything and don't approach the shoreline.  However, about this time of year, they are more relaxed and will come up to get food or a closer look.

Male

Female

Pepper was seen today with a big hole in his chest.  He's been a bad boy and picking fights, lately.  He's still in love with his mom, too.

Birds are migrating again

It seems like the winter birds are beginning to leave and the summer birds are starting to come in. For example, I swear I saw some cliff swallows and terns yesterday. Also, there seems to be fewer scaups and redheads lately.

Lots of pretty grass and flowers all over the place, too.

First thing I saw yesterday morning was a turkey vulture eating a coot. The coot died a week ago, probably from a raccoon attack. Vultures seem to like food that's been rotting for a week:



I saw the sick seagull and he seemed better, but still sick:



These lesser scaups were cute, though.



I only saw a few killdeer, but I could hear George and Killer doing calls.