Return of the "Little Male" and Shy becomes a mother

Little Male is back!

George's older son, Junior (also known as "Little Male" way back when I started this blog) has returned and seems to still remember me. He is constantly yelling! Even though he seems to be alone, he does a "family call" and I think his mate may have laid eggs on the northern side of the lake. Unfortunately, a family of raccoons frequent that area and it's unlikely that any eggs laid would hatch there.

Never stops talking

Today, he followed me around the lake for ten or fifteen minutes.

Across the lake, Digger and Shy's parents are still hanging around the ballfields instead of heading back to their breeding area. I think I may know why. Two other killdeers were watching me when the M6 parents began making "leave me alone" calls. I went over to where the other killdeer were at and found a nest in a very bad spot.



After looking at photos of the parents, I think one of them might be Shy. As soon as Shy started getting upset, mom and dad were right at her side, helping to defend the nest. They flew all around, trying to distract me. As soon as I left the area, the "grandparents" went back to their area. It's extremely unusual that anyone other than the parents show interest in another killdeer's nest even if it's a family member. Then again, Shy never completely detached from her dad and he may consider those eggs to be his.

Shy?

Shy's mate

I'm not going to give the exact location of her nest, but it's in a very, very, very bad spot and it's unlikely that the eggs would be around long enough to hatch. There's a lot of predators and human activity that would make it a miracle if those eggs survive.

In other lake news, Killer wanted to show me his pretty tail again:



But, really, he just wanted to distract me from his love, Digger:



Ducky was back with his best friend from ducklinghood. I think his mate is brooding a nest:



And, this black duck is always fun to watch. Here she is with her new boyfriend:



Bob2 is started to get spotted again. She will leave the area soon:



And, it's bath time for pigeons!