Firecracker gets curious

Hmmm, what are you doing over here?

I rode to the lake on my bike and as soon as I was in the driveway, I saw Firecracker. She watched me ride in and seemed very curious about me, perhaps because of my bike. But, at times, she was uncomfortable and would chirp to her brother, Killer, who was hidden nearby in the bay at Lake Murray in La Mesa. She trotted over to him and he did the flirty call and cluck, but when she didn't respond, he stopped. Both killdeer were doing very well with not getting skiddish at people walking by or dogs.

Killer is more serious, not curious

George and Martha were not around, the water level was still too high for him.

Later, as I was leaving, Killer flew off, calling for her to follow him. But, instead, she crossed over the sidewalk to get a better look at me. I was afraid she was going to run into the driveway where the cars were. So, I moved closer and she moved back, only to come up to me even more. When I left, I stopped and looked back to find her watching me. Usually, she's not that interested in anything I do.

Stay away, Firecracker, don't want you to get hit by a car

Other lake news:

Someone has been setting fires in various areas of the lake, usually in the very early morning before dawn. There is an idea of who the perpetrators are and they stopped for a little while when someone spotted them. But, it looks like they might have struck again, this time hitting the porta-john at the 1/2 mile mark. Here is a photo of it, all melted inside. The roof was entirely burned out, too.



So, now, it has escalated into structures, I wonder what will happen next. I am worried they will get bolder and do something worse. I hope they don't hurt Tom or the geese or the other buildings around the lake.

Also seen:

The baby duckies of the summer are reaching breeding age! Here is Chocolate in his full colors, now almost 21 weeks old, I think.



Here are the three "fish food" sisters, I think, Caramel, Peaches and Butterscotch. They each have a male attending them (the third male was out of the shot). They about 18 1/2 weeks old now, I think. Flycatcher and Chocolate, I think, are behind them in the background.



Here is Chocolate and, I think, Flycatcher. Flycatcher is still very, very young, too young to breed. I think she's about 14 weeks old or so. So, she's got at least another month or longer before she's old enough to breed. I don't see any flirting between the two, but Chocolate shadows her around a lot. I think he's not quiet ready to breed. I hope he waits because she's so much smaller than him.



Also, here's a picture of the Pool Phoebe. He's doing just fine. His dad came by, today, to chase him around, but nothing serious.