We say goodbye to a couple ducks

Today, we say goodbye to Curly, the curly billed duck.  Though I haven't seen him dead, it is very unusual for him to be missing so long.  I think the last time I saw him was in December or January.  Someone else said they saw him in February and someone else in March.  But, for me, it's very unusual for me not to see him in more than a month.  So, I presume he has passed on from old age.  He was a very healthy and vibrant duck until the end.

Curly's last photo taken on December 22nd, 2011

The other duck was a female mallard that I found the vultures eating.  The bill and head markings as well as the darker coloring of her feathers indicate that she might be Caramel or her mother.  Caramel was seen doing well a few days ago and the body was found in an area where she hasn't frequented in almost a year.  So, I won't be able to make a good determination of who it is until all the hens return from their nests.  

Here is a photo of Caramel's sister, who was in a bad mood today.  Notice her fanned tail.

This next photo was taken after he opened her mouth in threat, opened it and closed it a few times and let out a big loud quack before looking at me in a cute way.  I think a male walked too close to her.  She then went off to see if someone else would feed her.

I believe this next picture is of Spoonface's sister, the real bossy duck.  She was being really friendly today.

I think this is the formerly rescued Peep, her mate.

This is one of the trio where the female duck died a couple weeks ago:

Here is the other survivor:

When I went this morning to look at the killdeers in the ballfield, Shy and her mate were going absolutely nuts.  I looked everywhere for a nest and didn't find one.  I got distracted by some scary looking large dogs, one of them a large rottweiler trying to climb a fence, in a yard bordering the park, so I didn't take any photos of them.  The dogs were set off by all their screaming.  I forgot that I had to talk to the killdeer to make them feel more comfortable, but I was so distracted, plus I was listening for the one chick I think they're caring for whom I think is nearby.  If you want to make friends with killdeer (or at least calm them a little), you have to talk to them.  

Here is a photo of Shy I took a couple days earlier:

And her mate, AKA "Tiny's Twin" because he looks a lot like Tiny, George's son.

Across the lake, many other killdeer were out flying around doing territorial call.  Little Killer Jr. was being escorted around by Junior who didn't like sharing his territory with him.  

Here is the much bigger Junior: