Lake update with more ducklings!

I sure hope you're not getting sick of baby ducks!

The ducklings above and below might be gadwall-mallard hybrids, but it's hard to tell as both species have very similar-looking ducklings and a hybrid would probably mask any differences between the two species.

I think their mom is Gaddy's mate, below, but she also bred with male mallards.  We shall see what the ducklings look like if they grow up.

I saw these three little babies near the front entrance to the lake.  They were hiding from me:

Here's their mom.  They might be from that family of nine last week:

I think this is Butterscotch with two of her pretty much grown ducklings:

Here's another shot of the mama:

Fish Food Mama and her ten ducklings:

I found two other older ducklings, of which this is a photo of one.  I think they came over from the other part of the lake:

These four appear to be drop-offs and they were hanging around Mama duck.  It's possible they were raised by rehabiliators because they're about the age that they release them.  Plus, they have white on them and look like ones they've released before:

You can hear the "peep peep peep" of the baby pied-billed grebes all over the lake:

The western grebes have also arrived:

UPDATE: The osprey chick tried to leave the nest last week and fell onto the golf course (some say he jumped, others said he fell.  I think he jumped because he really wanted to leave).  He was rescued by Project Wildlife and is being cared for until they can find a place for him.

Lake Update, Drizzly Day

The day started out with a California thrasher and what sounded like a black-headed grosbeak.  I couldn't find the grosbeak, but here's a photo of the thrasher:

Pollux and his son were over in Junior's territory harassing Junior's son.  I think this is Pollux, though I'm not sure because he has the chopped-feathered appearance of a juvenile, though those are his markings:

This looks like his son:

And, I think this is Junior's son:

In the ballfields, the Cooper's hawk was making multiple attacks against Killer Junior and Little Miracle.  Here is Killer Junior:

And, Little Miracle:

They were both still OK when I last saw them.

Here is Zippy and Skippy with their mom, Yellowcheeks:

Skippy's bill is turning green like a male's.  Later, he saw some fish jumping around and went to chase them, but didn't catch any.

Cinnamon has the attention of most of the large male ducks at the lake.  Here she is with five of the seven who usually associate with her:

Shy Neo let me take his picture today.  He doesn't like to have his picture taken anymore:

Unfortunately, we may have to say goodbye to the gorgeous blue Swedish duck dropped off last year.  He has been missing for about a week and I saw a pile of feathers across the little bay that look like they might be his.  It's possible a coyote or some other predator carried him off and that could also why Pepper has been hiding a lot, lately.  It's been almost exactly a year since he arrived.  

His friend, this Welsh Harlequin, is the last of the three ducks dropped off last September.  The other was a buff female who died a few months ago.  Now, he is alone.

We also should probably say good -bye to one of Cinnamon's boyfriends, the crested duck in the next photo behind the duck in front with the all gray breast.  He was sick for a long time last April/May and I remember seeing a big pile of feathers in the area where was was convalescing.  However, I wasn't sure if he was really gone as all the ducks were molting and sometimes his crest is not visible when he molts and he disappears in the summer, sometimes.  But, now that the ducks are getting their colors back, I can tell he is gone for sure.  He was actually at least a year older than Cinnamon, perhaps even older, so he did have a long life there.
 

The western grebes are still there.  This one likes to make a krieeeek krieeek sound that's pretty cool:

His two friends are over here: