Chasing hawks in the fog

Today was a really foggy day, so some photos seem faded and look blurry because of the fog. It's also a little more difficult to determine the males and the females, too.

Ballfield killdeer:

Today, I think I saw 11 killdeer in the ballfields at Lake Murray, including two in the large field that is hardly ever used. While I was checking out one field, a flock of birds flew over and I heard the anxious and angry calls of a lone killdeer in there. At one time, she (I think) almost did a broken wing act when I came in as if she's protecting a chick. But, I saw no young chicks.

A very upset killdeer

In the other fields, the juvenile males were playing around, sparring. I think I saw Shy or Digger in another field all alone. Her dad was watching from outside the fence. I didn't see him there, at first, and he flew off, when I almost stepped on him, into the field that had the angry killdeer, leaving his daughter with the 7 other killdeer in her area.

Juvenile killdeer playing at fighting

"Fight, fight, fight!"

I think this is Shy or Digger

I think this is the M6 (Beautiful) dad in the field closest to the hawk

The doves and the starlings were all sitting on wires and very few of them were on the ground.

I started checking around some of the other fields when I nearly bumped into a male Cooper's hawk sitting on a low fence. I couldn't get a photo of him right then, but I saw him fly to a higher fence, scaring all the one or two doves away. It was totally weird that one dove was sitting only feet away from him and nothing happened. A second dove even joined the first.

"What? I'm just sitting here 'tis all" (feathers are wet)

The hawk sat on that fence, drying his wings from the fog before jumping down on the ground to get a squirrel. But, strangely, the squirrel only moved away a few feet and didn't even try to hide. He kept scavenging on the ground with the hawk only a few feet away. It was only when I approached that the squirrel ran and hid.

"Hey, I thought I had a squirrel in my talons"

I was able to take more photos as I slowly approached him as he flew around. I really wanted to nudge him out of the area by making him uncomfortable. I was a bit worried about the juvenile killdeer and their parents that I didn't want to see him hanging around there. I didn't want to harass him (which is illegal), so I mostly just slowly approached where he was and stood there, looking at him and taking pictures. I could hear his mate calling in the distance, but he didn't answer. Finally, he decided to fly over to where the big ballfield was and into the tree. I checked on the two juveniles in that field twice and they seemed fine.

His mate was calling while he was sitting here

He was almost right over the dad's head at this point

I'm sure the hawk came back there after I was gone, but I didn't want to see him catch a killdeer while I was there watching. The hawks around there, so far, don't seem to be interested in the killdeer. They seem to want rodents and rabbits the most. Even the doves don't seem to get bothered though I do know that these hawks will eat one. Grackles, starlings and blackbirds are also common targets. I know they would eat a killdeer if they caught one, but they seem uninterested in them--so far.

George and Martha's family:

I didn't see them, again, but I did hear at least two of the family calling. One appeared to be calling either from the hatching area or the area where I last saw them as chicks. I think they were in the latter as someone was setting up a fishing spot when I arrived. I walked all around that area and did not see any killdeer.

Another was probably George himself calling when a fishing boat go too close to his hidden area.

I kinda suspect that George and Martha may have new chicks now. Hopefully, the older chicks won't hurt the babies. If I'm right, then we should see them flying around in about 28-35 days.

The lake was really busy and I don't think there were any spots around where George's family would be comfortable as they are a little shy with humans.

A word about Tom the Muscovy:

Tom is a black Muscovy duck who has been a resident of Lake Murray for a long time. He's the last of several Muscovy ducks that have slowly been dying out or disappearing over the last few years. Poor Tom seems to have mites or lice really bad and is constantly itching and pulling at his feathers. He has bare spots under his wings from constant grooming. He never seems to swim anymore and I haven't seen him fly recently. He still seems pretty happy, though, and will wag his tail if you approach him and call his name. I feel sorry for Tom and wish I could help him, but I don't think I can or even if I am allowed as Tom is feral. But, hopefully the itching will stop, soon, or someone can figure out a way to help him.

Tom, in an earlier photo

George is heard, but not seen. Also, ballfield killdeer update

Male and female at the ballfield. The male had his eye on me the whole time.

I didn't see George or Martha again, but I heard George make a call when some people walked over near a dock. When I looked there, I saw no signs of any killdeer at all. But, I know that George is still around and I often hear him but don't see him. It's possible that he doesn't like the new water level as it brings him too close to where people walk.

4th of July chicks should be flying now

All 4th of July chicks who have made it this far should be flying by now, but they won't be very good at it for another couple of weeks and will probably rely on running and hiding still. They will be about 1/2 the size of their parents, but fully feathered. Flying will give them a new advantage against predators even though they won't have the ability or stamina to fly very far or high. They should be full-sized by 8 weeks old, or in about another month.

In the M6 area, all is quiet. I don't even see people doing construction there. I'm sure Digger and Shy are just fine and practicing their flying. If the road opens, soon, I will go check on them.

Junior should be a dad now

Junior (aka Little Male), son of George (M2) should now have a family as it's been more than 28 days since he mated with the smooth-band female. I haven't found him or his family. I can't search everywhere, though, and wish him and his family good luck. Junior has always been more high strung than any other killdeer and never had a lot of tolerance for me, so it's good that he will be raising his chicks without having to worry. Perhaps I will see his next family and he will have become calmer.

Killdeer at the ballfield

I think I spotted Mary over in the ballpark again. There were 9 killdeer there, 8 were the ones from that area and the 9th was Mary, all by herself. The other killdeer seem to like her, but she won't be able to get a mate unless an unbonded male takes her in. One male seemed to be following her around a bit, but later on, she was still alone. Mary is also a very large female, it looks like. Also at the ballfield, it appears that there were some young killdeer, perhaps about six to eight weeks old.

Mary eating with the doves. She likes seeds more than other killdeer do.

Mary with another female

Also seen at the ballpark was Digger and Shy's mom. I think she might either have new eggs or is hiding chick #3 over in the "disputed area" nearby. Bo was also at the ballfield as well as the bow-tie male and possibly the old male killdeer, M4.

The killdeer at the ballpark like to keep me at a distance, so it's hard to get really nice photos. It's so funny. I walk into the ballfield and the killdeer all watch me, begin to due hiccups and move away, but they stay quiet. As I turn to go away, they all start doing peeps, or mild alarm calls. Very funny. No problem going towards them, but I guess they had to say something to me as I leave.

I found this one funny photo of this killdeer. She was grooming herself and then got her foot stuck over her wing, presumably as she was scratching her head. She did this a couple of times, but she's OK, she got the foot out.

Grooming mishap! She was alright and got her leg in the right place after the photo was taken

Also seen this day:

A juvenile green heron, possibly newly fledged. I've seen a parent there before, but never knew about the babies. He caught a fish while I was watching.


A snowy egret showing off his yellow feet


A juvenile pied-bill grebe. He was sleeping on the shore and I thought he was a sick duck, so I came closer to check him, but he went into the water and went to sleep there. I never thought these grebes ever got out of the water. He still has some stripes on his head.