Cold morning

This morning was cold and there was frost everywhere.  It's actually been cold with frost for several days now, but it might be warming up starting tomorrow.  The photo above is, I think, one of the two babies the "Snowies" had.  The "Snowies" are either a snowy mallard pair or a Welsh harlequin pair with at least half mallard.  You can see a little frost color on these two boys, the only survivors out of six ducklings.

 Below is a photo of Pepper, the duck with the broken wing on the other side.  I don't like his shape, it looks similar to Scoop in regards tot he belly area.  Pepper has a Cayuga shape, but the puffyness around the legs bothers me.  I'm hoping it's just fat and not water on his belly.  He's behaving normally.

"Baby" goose is being a jerk and chasing all the ducks around.  I think this confirms he's a gander afterall.  He no longer hangs out with the rest of the flock, but off to the side and on his own.

Something's wrong with Big Mama Cooper; she's acting weird.  She flew up right in front of me and landed on a tree trunk and didn't move even though she was looking right at me.  I started to take my camera out and she flew up in this other tree and didn't move.  I noticed in the photo that one of her eyes seems swollen and possibly draining. But, I think she might have been bathing a few minutes earlier.  Either that or she was sleepy.  She hardly ever lets me look at her for too long.  She seemed very tired and stayed in this tree for a half an hour.

Smudge was about twenty feet away from Big Mama, being quiet and blending into the ground.  But, she seemed unconcerned about the hawk.  I know she knows what a Cooper's hawk is as she lived where one regularly hunted.  She seemed fairly unconcerned about her.  She was pretty much the only bird in that area at that moment that a Cooper's hawk would traditionally hunt, so I was worried.  But, after I left I came back to check later and both of them were gone.

RIP "Scoop"

Scoop died last Saturday.  That day, he was caught and put in a crate in order to get him some help from a rescue center, but he died soon after being caught.  It was only a matter of time before he died from this problem as it didn't get better.   The Wednesday before,  I checked on him and he was barely functioning, but still alive enough to run away from me.  I almost grabbed him then, but I think it was already too late for him.

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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.