Cloudy Day

Today was a bit of a cloudy day at Lake Murray, but all is well with all the ducks. Many of the migratory birds, such as the scaup, are leaving the lake. Female mallards are beginning to disperse to their nesting sites. The only ones that don't seem to be doing that are the young ones that hatched last year.

Digger and Killer were doing well. Even though the Cooper's hawks have been visiting their area regularly, they still manage not to get caught:

Digger

Killer

Bob1 was there, feeding, but when the coots began to move around, she panicked to get out of the way. She's starting to turn into her summer colors with spots beginning to show more:



I figured out that the male great blue heron is actually managing two females. Here is a photo of the "alpha" female:



Here is the new M4 male. I no longer think he's paired up with Firecracker as I got a good look at the female. She's got too thick of a breast band to be any of George and Martha's offspring:



Digger's mom and dad were setting up a breeding area in a weird spot, right out in the open and away from the water. I have no idea why they're there and not returning to their old breeding area. Here is a photo of the dad getting upset at me for being close by:



I thought I should throw in this photo of a northern mockingbird. The small specks in the photo are actually gnats which are in great numbers at the lake right now:

Digger's family comes to visit

Today, I went with my mom to Lake Murray and I noticed four killdeer in George's feeding area. Other than Digger and Killer, one looked like Digger's dad and, possibly, her mom, too.

Here's a couple of photos of Digger and Killer hanging out:





Here's a photo of their dad, but I don't know who was the killdeer facing away from me was. Probably his daughter or his mate. He looks a little beat up:




I didn't get a good photo of the mom this time. Killer did chase the dad around a little bit, but it didn't seem serious and everyone pretty much got along.

I didn't take any other photos today, but I did see Ducky and his adopted siblings. They're doing very well. The geese are also fine. But, I didn't see Tom the muscovy duck. He's been very tired lately. Mostly he gets his food in the morning and sleeps the rest of the day. His eyesight is getting worse and I think he's got cataracts in at least one of his eyes.

Digger sneaks away

Surprise! Digger was running around near Killer

Digger (one of the M6 chicks) came to visit and hung around Killer (George's son) in George's feeding area at Lake Murray in San Diego. She is not Killer's first love, Shy is (Digger's sister), but I think Killer appreciated having her around. He did trill and chase her a little, but not aggressively, I think it was playful. I think Digger likes Killer more than Killer likes her right now. But, he's not screaming at her or trying to get her to leave, so it may work out.

Killer

Digger

I did hear killdeer calls from various areas of the lake. I think her dad was looking for her or George was giving alarm calls about the osprey.

Both Killer and Digger have gotten the adult body style and feathering. They looked filled out and almost mature.

The young couple

I didn't take any photos of the other birds at the lake today. Ducky, the "lost" duckling, was seen with a young female a few weeks older than her. They were in a newly mowed area near the west side of the parking lot. Chocolate 2 and her new, very large, Rouen boyfriend muscled them away, but I think everything was alright. It makes me nervous that Ducky comes up to the parking area considering there has been accidents in the past.

The Fish Food Ducklings are still doing well as is Tom the Muscovy duck. There was a duck spotted with fishing line around his leg. Bill is working to catch him.

On the way home, I saw a raven with what looked like a slipped wing. It didn't look broken, but it seemed painful for him to fly. I didn't think it would be a good thing to catch him as the wildlife rehab centers are closed on Sunday and he would have spent the day in a drop-off box, alone. His friend was watching over him, at least, and when I went back to give him some grapes to see how bad his injuries were, he was gone. I heard a raven screaming alarms across the street, but did not see him. I think he might have pulled a muscle or dislocated his wing while fighting with a hawk, whom I heard later. Perhaps he was able to get into a tree or on top of a building.

I wasn't real enthused about catching him by hand, anyway, because those beaks will bite my fingers off.