Counting Day

Today, I did my monthly counting of birds at Lake Murray and the wood ducks decided that they didn't want to be a part of it and disappeared. All except Doodle. And, the herons weren't to be seen, either.

Doodle is looking much better, but a little toddler almost fell on him when the child fell backward. Doodle was standing right behind the him, but, luckily, sensed he was falling and moved away a little. Later, someone's dog scared him to flying off. I did see the dog go after something later, but did not see any ducks around. I looked all over and Doodle had completely disappeared.



I think this duck might be Pepper, but he's missing his little white spot under his chin and he's a bit larger than I remember him to be. However, he stood right next to his dad and I can see the resemblance. He's smaller than his dad, but bigger than most mallards. I sure hope he will be able to fly. It's also possible that this is one of Pepper's siblings.

ETA: This is not Pepper, afterall, but must be a sibling or half-brother. I found the real Pepper a couple of days later.



Speaking of updates, I think this might be Bossy Duck. I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks, so it seems that he got his colors really fast. I think I also saw Poquito, who is a week older, and not fully colored yet. In this photo is the strangled duck's surviving sister who is in love with Bossy, but Bossy is very bossy with her. I think he likes her, though.

ETA: This is not Bossy, but Poquito afterall, I found the real Bossy later with a different female. The female in the photo is still identified as being the strangled duck's sister.



Baby coot is also still making it.



I saw some green-winged teals for the first time. I hope they stay the winter because they look like mini-mallards right now. But, I think they're just passing through.


And, finally, this little female hangs out with Quacker, the flying cayuga. Quacker loved Peaches' ducklings and I think she has taken to being a mom to this one and maybe one other. She does "mom talk" to her.



And, the killdeers:

George and his family hanging out.

Killer

There's that strange female again on the left. I'm beginning to wonder if this might be one of George's daughters from this year. The other young male is George III and that's Digger standing up on the right.