Final Duckling Update and the Temecula Duck Pond

With the end of the season, this will probably be the last duckling update for this year in San Diego and at Lake Murray. 

I didn't see much of the last remaining ducklings in the morning after my last post. Sometimes, I saw them in the afternoon, especially Miss Friendly. Miss Friendly is the one who liked to follow me around. I didn't visit the lake very much in the afternoon, but I did get this picture of Miss Friendly when she was almost a month old.

For weeks, I didn't see any sign of the ducklings until I found this one whom I also think is Miss Friendly at about seven weeks old. She still has fuzz around her legs. She still did her baby talk when I approached.
I think I may have seen the "foster duckling" earlier this week, but it's hard to tell. Project Wildlife releases the ducklings around the same age as those ducklings are now, so it would be hard to tell them apart. I may never know if those other three ducklings made it.

Miss Una is fully grown and is a silly girl. I saw her chasing down flies one time. She's usually by herself.

Sometimes she likes to hang out with the male ducks that Project Wildlife released a couple weeks ago.

Sad news about Skeeter. She has fishing line wrapped around and cutting through her leg. She's been dealing with this for a few weeks. Problem is that the girl is super smart and no one can catch her! The other ducks in the flock are also protecting her, the little buggers. She's unraveled part of it herself, but not all of it. Last I saw, her foot was still "alive" and she's wiggling her toes, but it is swollen up.

In more sad news. someone dumped this female Chinese goose. She is very confused and is wandering around screaming her lungs out and coming up to people. It's clear she wants to go home. I'm hoping she will settle with the other geese, soon, before the coyotes get her.

I went to the Temecula duck pond last week. It's a very nice park and pond. What's neat is that ducks have the right of way on the busy road out there. However, I don't feel the pond is really ideal for ducks with it's raised sidewalks and bumpy rocky haul-out area.

Here is a sample of some of the domestic ducks there that people have dropped off. That runner duck is in charge.

These next two are mallard-domestic hybrids. I'm betting the runner duck is the father of this first one:

The little black-and-white female is in severe need of rescue. Her keel bone sticks way out. I'm not sure if it's a deformity or due to starvation. Some ducks can't really get any nutrition from bread which is the only thing to eat at this pond.

Temecula has a city law outlawing the feeding of ducks, yet I saw at least 6 people who fed them while I was there. All of them fed the ducks bread. This is a photo of their pamphlet discouraging feeding. I don't know if anyone ever reads it. I wish, too, they would also mention something about abandoning domestic pet ducks, too. The ones that seem to be extra hungry are the domestics and they must be fed or rescued.