Ducky day

Tiny and a mallard or rouen duck

The only killdeer I saw today was Tiny and he was hanging around the coots and the ducks. He looks totally an adult now. Very different from when he first learned how to fly. No killdeer were at the ballfields. I did hear some of the other ones, but I didn't see them.

Tiny

I saw another limping coot, the third victim of whatever is hurting them or perhaps the first one who was injured and began hurting again. The water level has gone down and they're not hanging around that one tree anymore. But, they are still feeding close to it and under another tree.

The "lost" duckling (to be named "Ducky") was wandering far from the water's edge close to the parking lot. He was walking up to people standing around near there. But, I got him away by going to a picnic table. He ran right up to me each time I put my bags down on a table. So, he has learned to associate the picnic tables with food. That might be a problem in the future if he gets aggressive when people won't feed him. Here's a video of him and a friend coming up to me at the table:

I saw a bunch of horned grebes at Lake Murray, too. It's funny to think that they may have "followed" me back to San Diego from the Salton Sea.

Horned grebes and a coot

Chocolate 1 is beginning to show signs of courtship and aggression. Most of the other ducks back down from him:



And, of course, the little sandpiper was around: