Killdeer are back and other birds

The killdeers have begun to make their appearance again.  However, I don't know who, exactly, these guys are.  I'm thinking they're the Beautiful Dad or Shy's offspring as they look real young.  These next two look a little like Pollux and his son:

There were three other killdeer there, too, but I can't identify them:

Another youngster:

In George's territory, an adult male patrols a certain spot.  I don't recognize him.  He appears to be mature and almost looks like a fat version of George:

I think this might be Smudge and her young companion, but I'm not sure.

Running:

They headed over where the single male is and Smudge's boyfriend chased off the single male:

But, Smudge disappeared, so he looked all over for her.  I have no idea where she went.

I'm not sure, but this might be Ducky or Ducky's girlfriend's brother.  He's been fighting, I see:

Bigboi and the other domestics were found in a weird spot near these reeds away from shore.  I've never seen them there, ever.  It could be because the predators are more active and it's been cold.

Hiding in the reeds.  The buff was there, too, but was out of the frame:

The nine dumped ducks are doing OK for now.

Oreo is just not himself and is just wandering around aimlessly even though Cinnamon and her males have accepted him into their group.  All he wants to do is honk-whistle and do courtship behaviors and contests with the other males. Cinnamon's boyfriends have no reason to do courtship behaviors with him as they all already know their ranking with her and know who her #1 male is.

There is a male mallard that likes to play with him, but doesn't follow him around like Aflac did. So, Oreo just swims around by himself looking for males who will play his game.  I don't recall him being like that with Aflac or doing courtship behaviors with him like this.

Here are a couple of yellow-rumped warbler pictures:

And a common yellowthroat.  This little guy just kept following me around.  He wouldn't give up and went everywhere I did.

Gaddy the gadwall

Gaddy is so beautiful!  He is one of two (possibly three) gadwall ducks that live at Lake Murray all year around.  More visit in the winter, but this winter there have been very few.  He has a sister, but doesn't spend time with her at all.  And, sometimes I see his mother, but I don't think I've seen her lately.

I used to think that Gaddy's mother was half mallard (which would make him 1/4 mallard), but now I'm not so sure because he looks to be a perfect gadwall.  I know his father was a full-blooded gadwall who died right around the time Gaddy and his sister hatched.  Gaddy is even more beautiful than his dad.

Neither Gaddy nor his sister had offspring last year.  I don't even think their mom had any ducklings, either, perhaps because there weren't any male gadwalls around when she was ready to breed.  I know that Gaddy likes to follow around a certain mallard female and his sister is bonded to a mallard male, but I've never seen either of them breeding.

The female mallard he tends to follow around looks like this female who doesn't like this male mallard at all. She never fights with Gaddy.  

I wanted to add that today I saw a common yellowthroat hopping around right at my feet, which is very unusual.  Unfortunately, it was very dark out and my shutter was pretty slow, so the photo is blurred.  My quest for a perfect common yellowthroat photo continues.

Great Backyard Bird Count; RIP Buffy

Buffy

Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count, 2011 and I was out counting birds at Lake Murray.  Unfortunately, I found out that someone found Buffy near death early this morning.  He died shortly afterward.  His last photo is posted above.  For the last two weeks, he was treated like an outcast by his own offspring and group that he's been a member of for about two years.  He was also very friendly towards me and started following me around when I visited the last couple times.  There must have been something wrong with him or he might have been sick.   He acted like he was very hungry and I don't think he ever learned to properly forage.  I'm sorry he had to spend his last days alone and lonely.  I also usually start my walks near where he is, but didn't today, so I didn't get to see him one last time.

The next photo is of three ducks that were dropped off in October, I think.  They're doing well, but they want nothing to do with any other ducks.  The males don't even want other females who seem to flirt with them.

Quacker ran up to see if I had any treats:

The lesser scaup are venturing close to shore, looking for handouts.  They usually do this time of year right before they migrate.  They almost never come on land because they are severely boat shaped and can't walk right when they do.  Their legs are placed far to the back unlike the mallard-type ducks:

I thought this was a gadwall until I looked more closely at the photo.  There were two wigeons in severe molt.  

Finally got some wood ducks counted.  This looks like Doodle's Placekeeper"

This one looks like Doodle's bully:

Doodle's Placekeeper and a female:

Here's a bufflehead, the only one left at the lake:

Big Daddy (AKA Cinnamon, Paprika):

This next duck is one I don't think I've ever seen before.  She was pretty friendly and quacked a lot, but wouldn't let me get too close.  Her wings are kinda messed up.  I sure hope she wasn't released her before she was able to fly.  I am a little concerned about her.

I had to take this picture of a common yellowthroat through a fence.  There were more than usual today:

Lesser Goldfinch:

And, from my house, the two baby hummingbirds!  One of them was practicing his flying yesterday.

Uh oh, the killdeer are thinking of nesting in the ballfields again.  I sure hope they don't.  I think this is the M6 mom and dad.

Small birds and killdeer

Today, I took photos of small birds and killdeer at Lake Murray.  It was very cold this morning and many wild ducks were missing today, including Cinnamon, Bossy, Curly, Hurt Wing, Peaches, Pepper, and others.  All the domestic ducks and geese were accounted for.

First, here are some bushtit photos.  Bushtits never stay still, so it's often hard to get clear photos of them:

Next, we have a mystery hummingbird.  I saw this juvenile bird a week ago behaving much differently than the Anna's.  I thought it was a Costa's, then saw some orange-ness to it and thought maybe a calliope, Allen's or juvenile rufous.  Now, I think it's a Costa's again.  

I'm still on a quest to get a good common yellowthroat photo.  While this one was in a good position, it still came out too blurry.  

I saw a bunch of tree swallows, where else, in a tree!  They were swarming back and forth from the tree and across the lake:

Next, are the killdeer.  I've lost track of identifying many of the killdeer, but I think the first is either Martha and George or Martha and her daughter who looks like George.  In the third photo down, George III can be seen to the right.  Other than that, most of the photos look like the rest of the juveniles as well as a few from across the lake.