Killdeer are back and other birds

The killdeers have begun to make their appearance again.  However, I don't know who, exactly, these guys are.  I'm thinking they're the Beautiful Dad or Shy's offspring as they look real young.  These next two look a little like Pollux and his son:

There were three other killdeer there, too, but I can't identify them:

Another youngster:

In George's territory, an adult male patrols a certain spot.  I don't recognize him.  He appears to be mature and almost looks like a fat version of George:

I think this might be Smudge and her young companion, but I'm not sure.

Running:

They headed over where the single male is and Smudge's boyfriend chased off the single male:

But, Smudge disappeared, so he looked all over for her.  I have no idea where she went.

I'm not sure, but this might be Ducky or Ducky's girlfriend's brother.  He's been fighting, I see:

Bigboi and the other domestics were found in a weird spot near these reeds away from shore.  I've never seen them there, ever.  It could be because the predators are more active and it's been cold.

Hiding in the reeds.  The buff was there, too, but was out of the frame:

The nine dumped ducks are doing OK for now.

Oreo is just not himself and is just wandering around aimlessly even though Cinnamon and her males have accepted him into their group.  All he wants to do is honk-whistle and do courtship behaviors and contests with the other males. Cinnamon's boyfriends have no reason to do courtship behaviors with him as they all already know their ranking with her and know who her #1 male is.

There is a male mallard that likes to play with him, but doesn't follow him around like Aflac did. So, Oreo just swims around by himself looking for males who will play his game.  I don't recall him being like that with Aflac or doing courtship behaviors with him like this.

Here are a couple of yellow-rumped warbler pictures:

And a common yellowthroat.  This little guy just kept following me around.  He wouldn't give up and went everywhere I did.

Orange-crowned warbler and one less Pekin

I think this is an orange-crowned warbler, one of the birds I know is always at Lake Murray, but I rarely see.  He was hopping around on this fence.  Didn't seem shy at all.

Big Mama Cooper's Hawk didn't seem to mind me taking her picture, either, even with the flash going.  Later, I found a half-eaten dead coot in the area.  It's unusual for her not to eat her entire kill, but she may have been disturbed by people walking by.

This is Bumblefoot and her mate.  She's very vocal:

And, she loves her mate.  Here she is saying "I love you" by doing head bobbing at him. She was actually walking better today.

Big Daddy thought I had some food, but I didn't:

Today, the black Swedish duck known as Oreo was by himself.  His friend, Aflac, was found dead and mostly eaten and it looks like raccoons got him and dragged him to the reeds near where they sleep.  Oreo was acting fairly normally, but when his flock containing Cinnamon and her boyfriends moved to another area, he stayed behind.  He's perhaps hoping his friend will "wake up" or show up again and, then, they will go together.

Here's a photo taken a couple of weeks after they arrived in late March/early April, 2011:

Cinnamon and her boyfriends (including Stubby) are OK, but I worry that the predator will be back for the rest of the ducks.

Big Daddy and a few other birds at Lake Murray

Big Daddy this year

Big Daddy is at his peak of redness and seems to get redder every year.  Here is a photo from last December:

A couple days ago, I did a bird count and found a bunch of shovelers:

For those who think I don't know what a yellow-rumped warbler looks like, here is a first year female.  Most of the ones we get here are Audubon's warblers.  I haven't seen any Myrtle warblers here:

And, I threw in a few white pelicans: