Least Tern, Picture of the Day 05/24/16

Today's picture of the day is of a least tern that was flying around at the Tijuana River Natural Estuarine Research Reserve down by the border near Imperial Beach. I took this on International Migratory Bird Day on May 14th. The least terns nest in this area and this adult was looking for small fish in the river area. It was a cloudy day.

Update on the ducklings in the last post: Unfortunately, they were all gone within a couple of days. 

Birdy update

Not a whole lot going on bird-wise.  I got a close up of this wood duck whom I think is Doodle's Son (the one whom I called Doodle's Placekeeper).  He looks like his dad after his last breeding season.  I'm betting this guy is now "retired" and may not be breeding anymore.  We shall see if he gets his colors back next year.  Usually, when they get scruffy like this, they're near the end of their lives.  Doodle lived over a year in his scruffy phase.  He appears healthy otherwise.

The Canada goslings say "hello".

Troublemaker is still under-grown and fuzzy on his back.  But, he is showing some growth.  Here he is next to his mom:

He might not be a Brewer's duck because he's getting blue speculum feathers.  But, he still looks different from a regular mallard:

He still has a lot of white on his belly:

I love watching the terns doing courtship.  Here, a female is waiting for her male to bring her something to eat.  I also saw a juvenile Forster's tern:

I couldn't identify these, at first, but they're cowbirds.

I saw a California gnatcatcher family, but only the mom let me take a photo of her:

The domestic ducks seem to be mostly fine, though I think something is going on with the Pekins.  I think we might be missing a couple of them.  It's been hot and this breed of ducks don't do so well in hot weather.

Pepper is hurt

Pepper, the little black duckling that grew up to look a little bit like a mallard, has hurt his wing and may be permanently flightless from now on.

I have a strong feeling that he was attacked by one of the two big domestic ducks that hang out at that spot, probably the blue Swedish.  The only reason why Pepper and his brother were even there was because their mom, Peaches, is in the area.  

It appears that whatever happened affected the elbow or just above it.  I didn't see any broken bones protruding and it may be a tendon or joint issue.  He may never fly again.

He doesn't seem to be in any pain or suffering and even banged his wing against a few objects without flinching.  Since he is a hybrid, he is usually not accepted at wildlife rescues and human societies.  Hopefully, his wing will get better.

The two large domestic ducks (friends of the buff that died) were totally missing today.  It is strange that they both disappeared at the same time.  It would also be strange if they were taken by someone for dinner because those two ducks were starving and didn't have much meat on them.  If someone who is reading this rescued them, please let my know in the comments box.

Below is a photo of a courtship feeding between two Forster's terns.  This is the best photo I could get.

Also, here is a photo of a western grebe that got close enough to let me take a photo of him, though it was through the reeds.  A Cooper's hawk frightened him and he dove under water.

Famosa Slough and Mariner's Point

Forster's tern

Today, I did two projects with Audubon.  The first was at Famosa Slough getting ready to do nest monitoring this spring.  I took a few photos of the birds that were there.

Least Sandpiper

Dowitchers

Willet

Blue winged teal

Forster's tern

Then, I went over to Mariner's Point in Mission Bay to help remove some invasive weeds before the least terns come to nest.  The killdeer were already there with their nests.  Here is one of the mothers:

Here is another female on her nest.  I was working about 10-15 feet from her and she stayed on her nest pretty much the whole time.

Here she is with her eggs in the background.

This is her with her mate.  When he visited, they mated, so I definitely know that the one sitting on the nest is the mom.

Here is my view of the work area with all the primrose.

This is North America's smallest butterfly, the pygmy butterfly:

This spot had a good sight of the bay.  Here are two California brown pelicans (and a Forster's tern) flying around the point: