Goodbye Bitey, hello baby ducks!

Bitey, the Pekin duck pictured above, is gone.  I think someone might have taken him.  I am trying to think good thoughts and hope he's in a happy home and being treated well.  He was getting a little thin last time I saw him.  It's good that he's gone now because Neo's mom is probably ready to come out with her ducklings, which should be hatching any time now.  Good lucky Bitey!  I love ya!

There was also a white bunny dropped off near where Bitey was at the lake last weekend, but I didn't see him, either.

I saw the first ducklings of the season at Lake Murray today.  I think that's Butterscotch (one of the "Fish Food Ducklings" from a few years ago) with them and I think they're 5-7 days old.  Last year, she lost all her ducklings at about this age.   She has 10 of them right now, but I can see that two of them don't look so great right now.  She's being very cautious and careful of them. Hopefully, she will be able to raise a few this year.

I also saw the first three baby coots in the same area, too:

And, a beautiful gadwall and his gadwall mate.  He's nowhere near as beautiful as Gaddy, though.

Gaddy, I heard, is still fighting over his mallard girlfriend not far from where I last saw him.  I'm hoping for ducklings from them, too.  I suspect that all his girlfriend's ducklings will be all mallard because she sneaks off and mates with the mallard males, often.  I guess that green head is irresistible.

Bad news about Neo

I have bad news about Neo.  I've been seeing this duck with a hurt wing for almost a week now, but never got a good look at him until today.

Someone was feeding him with Indy and another small duck that might be Indy's brother along with Sweetie. I recognized him as Neo immediately, but wasn't a 100% sure and I really didn't want it to be him.  So, I took a photo to compare with Neo's other photos.  Sadly, yes, this does look like Neo in all aspects.  He will be one year old in a few weeks.

There are several ducks with hurt or broken wings at Lake Murray that have been flightless for over a year or more, so Neo still has a chance to live on.  I suspect he got hurt fighting with his mother's mate.  His mother may be on a nest nearby because it is that time of year when she nests.  Or, maybe Bitey got a hold of him.  But, I doubt it because the mallards like to boss Bitey around.  It doesn't look as bad as Pepper's or Hurt Wing's wings, but I haven't been able to see under it.  I'm hoping it's just sprained.

I've noticed that drakes with broken or hurt wings are rarely successful at breeding.

You might remember Neo from my Youtube Slideshow:  Neo, the Duckling that Lived!

Bitey's close call with bad humans:

Speaking of Bitey, I visited him today and gave him some food.  He also got another cup of food from someone else, so he got lots to eat this afternoon.  However, a lady told me that just before I arrived, several young men were surrounding him, feeding him something, and making comments that might indicate that they fed him poison or were going to hurt him.  They were also filming him with their cell phones.  When the lady came up, they were very rude to her, but they left.

I watched over Bitey for an hour and a half and I didn't see him acting unusual (for Bitey at least).  It's very possible that they were planning on doing something to Bitey, but the lady interrupted them.  I really need to get him a home, soon, before someone hurts or kills him.