Some ducks reappear, other disappear again.

I tell you, sometimes ducks drive me crazy.  Cow, whom I thought was drowned by her mates last week, was seen alive an well this morning!  Bitey was standing next to me biting my leg while I was taking her picture:

But, now, another duck from her flock is missing!  I named the Swedish ducks Inga, Olga and Annika and Inga is the one that's missing now.  I wonder if there's a communal nest somewhere.

And, surprise, I think the photo below is of a duck called "Sir Francis Drake" who had fishing line tied around his leg a few years back (the line was removed a year later, but the damage was done).  He's a pretty old duck now.  He's lived longer than many other perfectly healthy duck.

Bumblefoot has a new friend to hang around with.  It's the pale-billed male that I think used to hang out with the "four babies" dumped last year.

Two new ducks were dropped off right where the coyotes hunt.  I wonder if these people are purposely trying to feed the coyotes or something.  Don't people wonder why there's hardly any domestic ducks in that area?

I also saw an American wigeon.  All the scaup seem to have left the lake.  A couple of days ago, I saw several scaup, but didn't see a single one today.

This poor juvenile gull has what I think is a fishing jig with multiple hooks in his bill.  He can't eat with it like that.  I told the lake staff and they tried to catch him, but he kept flying off.  He looks so miserable.  I suspect he thought he was plucking a fish out of the water or something, but it wasn't and now he's going to die a slow death unless someone catches him.

And, finally, in Killdeer news, I think Junior is back and I thought he was fighting with his son.  His mate got really mad at him and chased him away.  When I looked at the photos, I found that the one Junior was getting excited about was another female (possibly "Little Miracle").  That explains why his mate was so annoyed as females usually don't pick fights with males, but they get extremely jealous of other females.

No ducklings yet.

Lots of killdeer

George seems to be hosting a family holiday get together on the mud flats that were created when the water level was lowered.  In the morning, I only saw George and Killer with their families, all nine of them (all except Killer Jr.):

I think this is one of George's daughters.  She looks a lot like her older siblings and her mom:

Later, I saw two extra killdeer. One looks a little bit like the M6 dad, but I think it might actually  might be Squiggy (in the center):

Stretch that wing!

 George and Martha were there.  Here's George in the middle standing on a stone.  Martha is to his right (our left):

Bye

 This young male was by himself.  I'm wondering if he's George's son, or a male coming to court one of George's daughters:

"Puffy Band" was there, too, but seemed extremely tired and weak.  That's him on the right:

 

Other birds:

Bossy Duck has lost more feathers.  I think a mean drake might be hurting him over by the benches in that area.  He's not as friendly now and stays away from other ducks.

I thought this was cute, seeing Louie the gander, sleeping.  He's a good flock leader:

Two wigeons I saw:

I saw them near a bunch of fishing line all strewn about, all over bushes, the ground, around rocks and everything.  The only reason why I was there was because I saw the Cooper's hawk catch something and I wanted to go see what she got.  

Baby Bob was briefly seen:

 

Blue-gray gnatcatcher.  There was a second one nearby, too.  He was difficult to photograph and get good lighting:

White-crowned sparrow:

Anna's hummingbird:

Death by fishing line

Today, there was an unfortunate discovery: one of the young friendly females was discovered strangled by a fishing line and being towed by another duck, probably her sister until she was cut free. She was about 5 months old and was one of the friendliest ducks you'd ever meet. She was practically covered by fishing line from head to toe. She was one of the original 11 ducklings hatched last April and raised by "Duckling-napper" the female that steals ducklings from other females.

From her bill, she looked, at first, to be the Bossy duckling, but it was mostly because her bill was pale from death. Bossy duckling was just spotted (along with her extra friendly sisters and brother) together far away from the scene. This is a photo of the duck before she was killed:



Graphic Pics:

The following contains two graphic pics of the duck with the fishing line around her:




I hope that never happens again. Too bad it was a really good natured female. We need more of those around Lake Murray.


Better news:

Bossy duck is fine and getting better. One of the dead duck's sisters has a crush on him, but he constantly pecks at her. I don't think she's going to give up on him.

Bossy likes to hang around the large drakes

I found three of the youngest ducklings together:


I took this photo of Cinnamon because she's so cute:



And, the black Swedish and Pekin are still plugging along and have even grown bigger:



No sign of Pepper or Curly today. It's been hot.

Lake Murray to discourage duck feeding

I haven't seen any definite information about it, but rumor is going around that Lake Murray in San Diego is going to start discouraging people from feeding ducks or other wildlife in the future. The claim is that the feeding is attracting rats, mice and seagulls.

Here is my opinion and observations on this issue:

I think they should continue with the morning feedings with Bill and the pre-dawn feeders at each end of the lake. If anyone asks why they are allowed to feed, it can be explained that they are the only ones allowed to do so, or they are the "official" feeders.

The only issue I have with some of the feeding is that the ducks will sometimes go across the parking lot to get more food in the morning. This can cause problems with drivers, especially on weekends. However, it's usually only a very short period in the morning where this is a problem and it quickly dissipates as soon as the feeder leaves the area.

Also, a minor problem is that feeding ducks corn does attract undesirable birds such as crows and grackles. However, the arrival of a recently fledged Cooper's hawk in the morning has put a damper on these pests. The only problem is that the hawk also likes other, more friendly, birds, too and you can't tell him which birds he can hunt and which ones he can't.

In the morning, I don't see any problems with the regular feeders that are there now who feed the birds birdseed and duck food or vegetables. However, I do notice that bread feeding at other times of the day, by the general public, has gotten out of control. I don't seem to remember so many people feeding the birds bread as there are now in all the years I've been going to this lake. Later in the day, I do notice that there are more seagulls and grackles than in the morning, when I see very few.

I do the bird counts at this lake once a month at the same time of day the feedings go on and see no increase in any one particular species. In fact, ducks have gone down in number, probably due to migration and construction. Coots have dramatically gone up for the same reason, but they are the only true increase I've seen recently of regular year-round species. I have also seen very few rats or mice at the lake.

There are several ducks that will probably starve or struggle if they don't get regular food. Ducks like Curly, the duck with half his upper bill deformed can't feed all day and he is already underweight. Bill said he was starving when he found him and it might be his end if he can't be fed. Also, Tom the Muscovy would have a hard time with getting enough food as he is sight impaired. The geese, also, may go hungry.

Feeding the ducks also helps monitor the progress of ducklings and makes it easier to see ducks who have been injured by fishing line or hooks. It is our responsibility to help birds harmed by human activities. If we didn't feed them, at least once a day, we would not see how many need help.

I usually don't think that people should feed wildlife as it can cause them to be dependent and attract nuisance animals or encourage aggression. But, I don't see a problem with the regular morning feeders. I do think that feeding bread should be discouraged and perhaps that's a place to start. I'm sure there will be people who will still feed the ducks bread or try to sneak-feed them, but if they want to curtail the feeding, they should start there and not with the regular feeders.

Another thing they can do is install pellet stations for people to buy healthy food for waterfowl that pest birds don't like. It might, at least, curtail the bread and "trash food" feeding that is, most likely, the problem.

That's my opinion on the issue.