Tiny is the boss (or bully) of the ballfield

Ballfield killdeer:

Tiny waking up in the ballfields

Tiny made it through the night and was in the same spot where I left him this morning in the ballfield at Lake Murray. Several other killdeer were with him in that field, four friends in one field, two in the next and two parents in another field keeping an eye out for hawks. Several of the killdeer with Tiny seemed to be juveniles and at least one was a female and three were males, I'm not sure what the fifth one was.

Tiny made a move on the female who rejected him. But, Tiny didn't give up, began to chase her and was confronted by another male who backed off when Tiny challenged him. Other males came up, but Tiny bossed them all around. Then, everyone went back to eating.

Leave that female alone! says this male

Three males, Tiny in the middle, a female on the right

In the field next to them, the Tiny look-a-like was alone with the little baby (the youngest fledgling). I don't think they're related, but I think the bigger killdeer has taken a parental role in protecting the little one.

George and Martha's family:

No killdeers were seen in George's area. I am wondering what's going on with Killer and Firecracker. The water level seems to be going down, so maybe we'll see them again, soon. As I've said before, I have a strong suspicion that George and Martha have new little babies. I think Killer and Firecracker may be nearby, but probably not too close due to the new babies.

Not much else went on at the lake today. The ducks are fine, but when I did my count this morning, there seemed to be only half the mallards there usually were. It might be due to the weather. A lot of the white jumbo Pekin ducks were also missing, hopefully rescued and living a good life (not taken for meat).

A lot of the grackles are also gone, it seems.

Last night, I saw a "flock" of California quail.