Spotted Sandpiper and Avocets

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures at Lake Murray, lately, but I did see this very friendly spotted sandpiper about two weeks ago. I think it's a male because he's small and slim. He was eating up flies like crazy.

I also saw some visiting American avocets on another morning. They're not rare, but don't visit the lake all that often.

Borrego Springs Swainson's Hawks

So, I went down to see the Swainson's hawks in Borrego Springs yesterday because I couldn't do it last year. I guess at some point before, someone counted over a thousand hawks! I only saw a couple hundred. I was there early in the morning, but did not stick around after they started kettling.

They were all on the ground off of Borrego Springs Road near Henderson Canyon Road looking for caterpillars when I got there.

Some where out flying around, so I was able to get a couple of shots:

They started kettling around 10 a.m. near Henderson and Peg Leg. I guess they migrate all the way from South America to near the arctic and like to pass through here.

They were looking for these guys. I think this is a photo of a sphinx moth caterpillar. I think the sphinx moth is the one that's also known as the hummingbird moth. 

The caterpillars like to eat these things:

Creosote in bloom:

Sand verbena with what I think is dune evening primrose. I don't know what those little white flowers are called.

Here are some more of the little white flower. I think they might be snowball sand verbena.

 I think this might be the regular kind of evening primrose:

A shot of the entire valley.

I haven't been taking many pictures of the animal around Lake Murray lately. No. 6 and Miss Skeeter decided to go way over to where Mr. Squeaky got killed by the coyotes. They were there for about a week when No. 6 was seen alone in another area of the lake. I could not find Miss Skeeter for well over a week and thought that she might have been killed by the coyotes, too. However, I finally found her not far from where No. 6 and two other white pekins were hanging out..

In this photo, taken before she disappeared, you can clearly see the fishing line around her leg:

This next time I saw her, I couldn't see the line very much, though she was still limping. I think she likes to play with it and wrap and unwrap it around her leg. She's not hurt here, she's trying to dig under the leaf litter and decided to lie down.

Handsome No. 6:

There's a new dumped duck that was dropped off a week or so ago. He looks a lot like Dougie who was pekin and another breed.

I saw a pretty canvasback female back in February:

There hasn't been many killdeer lately. Mostly, I've been seeing one pair: a large female and a skinny male much like George and Martha. I also think I've seen Killer and Dee now and then.

The fat sandpiper continued to stick around and she lost quite a bit of weight:

I also came across this ring-billed gull with actual rings on its legs. Unfortunately, I could not read the USFWS band number:

Fat Sandpipers, Domestic Ducks and RIP Mr. Squeaky

I haven't been doing a whole lot of photos lately, but here are a few that I've done in the last month. 

I did my yearly bird watch around the Bayshore Bikeway on New Year's Day. I saw a lot of stilts, some of which were having a bath party right in front of me.

I think some birds are getting ready for migration. There must be a good insect population this year because I found this extremely chubby spotted sandpiper at Lake Murray. She looked like a little tennis ball:

A horned grebe showed up at Lake Murray and stayed a while:

Grumpy, the outcast Canada goose is actually starting to look like a girl. He still has a boy voice, though. He will be two years old this spring. His goose manners have improved and he's starting to socialize a little bit with the other Canada geese.

Ming-Ming says hello and asks "where are the girls?"

Here is a photo of Sissy, the buff duck:

Here is Sissy and Pumpkin with Buff:

The two new girls that were dumped last month. The brown and white duck that was with them disappeared after New Year's. A gray duck that was with Sissy and Pumpkin also disappeared. Uno, who also lived in that area has disappeared as well. No sign at all of them. All, except Uno, cannot fly.

Snowy ate a fishing worm the other day. I hope it doesn't kill him. I think that as long as it doesn't have any hooks in it, he will be OK:

There's a new Muscovy girl swimming around with the new geese. I'm betting she's from the same owner as the geese. I wish they'd stop dropping their pets there. The geese have already had problems getting caught with fishing line and hooks.

Finally, we say goodbye to Mr. Squeaky, the Pekin. He used to hang out with Mr. Pekin and the duck with the bad arthritis. For some weird reason, he decided to go off on his own last week. I saw him far from where the rest of the ducks. He looked very sad and was possibly not feeling well. He didn't seem to be looking for anyone or following a female, which is the usual reason for a male duck breaking away form the group. His adventure didn't last long as coyotes were quick to grab him when they got over to their usual hunting area. He had never been there before. 

I thought he had been at Lake Murray for a year and a half, but I actually don't think he's been there much more than a year. He was the youngest of the Pekins. His mate, Squeaky, was rescued last year.

A killdeer argument

This morning, I came across two male killdeer having an argument.  They looked like Killer and Smudge's mate and seem to know each other.  But Smudge's mate, even though he's much younger than Killer, was not happy about him being there.  Smudge's mate was probably just protecting the area for his family.

When Killer started to approach, Smudge's mate went into display mode.

I was here first!

What?  I'm just here for a bath! (said Killer)

Can you believe this guy? (said Smudge's mate)

OK, that's enough, go away.

I've got my eye on you!

You're not moving fast enough!

I'm so mad!

I also saw a scrub jay and a nuttall's wood pecker among other birds.  The scrub jay wouldn't sit for a photo, so here's the woodpecker.

I guess one of the spotted sandpipers decided to stay longer.

Jill is acting weird.  She's just standing around, not moving.  She does move eventually and she will move if you make her move, but she's not grazing and is just standing still.

Eileen is still limping, but seems OK:

Here's her ducklings:

Junior is happy

Junior the killdeer is happy because his mate is with him now.

Junior doing a nest scrape

Junior's mate

I think the next photo is of George III who was hanging out with another female whom, I think, was George's mate, Martha.  He seemed really happy to have her around.  I couldn't get a decent photo of her.

Baby Bob is molting and you can see her spots starting to come through.

Here she is from the back:

This black-crowned night heron is in the middle of a molt, too.

I think the gull on the right is the sick gull from a few weeks ago.  Seems a bit better now.

Bossy duck is doing well, but the ring seems to be getting tighter on him.  I think he's grown a little.

Quacker was being really friendly, but she kept running around in the parking lot getting chased by kids and almost getting hit by cars.  She was just hungry and looking for a handout..

Big Mama Cooper's hawk, dead?

As I drove towards the lake entrance, I saw a dead bird on the road, perhaps two.  I thought it might be Big Mama Cooper, but didn't think it had any sign of barring on its feathers, so I wasn't sure.  The road was busy, so I couldn't get out and check.  I didn't hear or see Big Mama at all today and I almost always, at least, hear her as she's got a nest in George's territory and is always calling for her mate.  When I left, I drove by slower and looked and I could see lots of barring on the wings and what looked like a long (folded) tail and a reddish-tan lower belly.  I couldn't see the chest.  Apparently, the bird had flew head-on into a passing car while chasing what I think was a dove or pigeon whom I think was the other bird (it was gone when I passed by the second time).  I think the dead bird might be her as I've seen her fly low across this road at this spot while chasing birds.  I will keep an eye out for her to see if she is really gone or not.  It could have been the local red-shouldered hawk as well, whom I also didn't see at all today.