Coyote Day and Lots of Thrashers

I got to see the coyotes today. They were very far away, but my friends pointed out this family of three hunting. I think they ended up catching a large rabbit. They're pretty small in the pictures, but you may be able to make them out.

In the first picture, there are actually two, but one is very hidden:

There's two in this next photo, too, one in the middle, one off to the upper left:

There are usually only two California thrashers at the lake, but today there were at least a dozen. These two, on the fence, were chasing each other:

This one didn't care about what the other two were doing. Also in the area was a very loud Costa's hummingbird:

It poured down rain a couple days ago. It rained so hard that I don't think even the ducks liked it. Here is Miss Angel and Mr. Squeaky trying to get out of the rain:

Pouring down rain in this photo. The coots are beginning to arrive. The ruddy ducks are already at the lake as are some teal and eared grebes:

The female goose has a companion. Someone dumped that male that's in the background of this next photo. I'm betting they were from the same owner as they've been best friends since day one.

A few photos and "Scoop" the sick duck

Northern Shovelers

This California thrasher is a long time resident at Lake Murray, but he's very shy of me.  It even upsets him if I walk by sometimes.  But, today, he, at least let me take a nice photo of him before flying off.

The sick duck is still alive and is slightly better.  I named him "Scoop" for his scoop-like bill.  However, he lets me get way too close before moving away, so I think he really feels miserable.  I think he's been sick for a month now, but I don't remember his crop being this big until about ten days ago.  I am still waiting and seeing if he will get better since he's had it so long.  I have a general rule that if the animal is eating, drinking, and moving around OK, I wait and see.  The exception is open wounds with heavy bleeding or infection, or broken bones that have broken through the skin.

He is trying to push his crop down and groom his chest in this photo.  It also looks like he might have a little ascites in this picture, which would mean he has an overall digestive issue or could have a fluid problem.

Also, it looks like, indeed, the little call duck has fallen victim to the coyotes.  I took this photo a few weeks ago when he was looking better after being sick for a while.  But, before he died, I did noticed he was hunching over again a little.  So, he may not have been strong or alert enough to fly away.

Lake Update, Drizzly Day

The day started out with a California thrasher and what sounded like a black-headed grosbeak.  I couldn't find the grosbeak, but here's a photo of the thrasher:

Pollux and his son were over in Junior's territory harassing Junior's son.  I think this is Pollux, though I'm not sure because he has the chopped-feathered appearance of a juvenile, though those are his markings:

This looks like his son:

And, I think this is Junior's son:

In the ballfields, the Cooper's hawk was making multiple attacks against Killer Junior and Little Miracle.  Here is Killer Junior:

And, Little Miracle:

They were both still OK when I last saw them.

Here is Zippy and Skippy with their mom, Yellowcheeks:

Skippy's bill is turning green like a male's.  Later, he saw some fish jumping around and went to chase them, but didn't catch any.

Cinnamon has the attention of most of the large male ducks at the lake.  Here she is with five of the seven who usually associate with her:

Shy Neo let me take his picture today.  He doesn't like to have his picture taken anymore:

Unfortunately, we may have to say goodbye to the gorgeous blue Swedish duck dropped off last year.  He has been missing for about a week and I saw a pile of feathers across the little bay that look like they might be his.  It's possible a coyote or some other predator carried him off and that could also why Pepper has been hiding a lot, lately.  It's been almost exactly a year since he arrived.  

His friend, this Welsh Harlequin, is the last of the three ducks dropped off last September.  The other was a buff female who died a few months ago.  Now, he is alone.

We also should probably say good -bye to one of Cinnamon's boyfriends, the crested duck in the next photo behind the duck in front with the all gray breast.  He was sick for a long time last April/May and I remember seeing a big pile of feathers in the area where was was convalescing.  However, I wasn't sure if he was really gone as all the ducks were molting and sometimes his crest is not visible when he molts and he disappears in the summer, sometimes.  But, now that the ducks are getting their colors back, I can tell he is gone for sure.  He was actually at least a year older than Cinnamon, perhaps even older, so he did have a long life there.
 

The western grebes are still there.  This one likes to make a krieeeek krieeek sound that's pretty cool:

His two friends are over here:

Some old favorites

I thought I would post a few photos of some old favorites at Lake Murray.

Big Daddy

Bigboi

Curly

Here's Spoonface.  Good news, his body feathers look like they've grown back.  His wing feathers may not grow back until the next molt.

The friendly juvenile wigeon

Jill was finding comfort hanging around the big embden, who might be a female, but I'm not sure.  His/her mate tries to chase off Jill, but she mostly ignores him or just moves away a little.  She seems to be in a much better mood and is beginning to fit into the group.

The Canada goose is not letting Louie get near her.  Louie always keeps his eye on her and calls to her, too.  She sometimes answers back.  Whenever Louie gets vocal, the Canada goose tries to drown him out, but he's no match for the Chinese gander.

I also got a photo of the California thrasher that lives near the ballfield.  I think I saw a sage thrasher, too, but couldn't get a photo of it because it was blocked by branches.

My first Audubon bird walk

Today, I did my first Audubon bird walk in Tecolote Canyon.  Many of the birds were small and were far away, so I didn't get many good photos.  We saw Cooper's hawks, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, California thrashers, California towhees, lesser goldfinches, say's phoebes, and many more.  Here are a few photos I took that came out presentable.

First, a pretty flower, I think it's a primrose:

A lesser goldfinch:

And, two photos of California thrashers:

I had one of a Say's Phoebe and Northern Flickr, but they weren't that great.