Blue-gray gnatcatchers

This morning was bright and sunny and a lot of the birds were out singing and chasing each other around.  This blue-gray gnatcatcher was out in the open and didn't mind me chasing him around with the camera at all.  Most birds will immediately hide or leave the area if they even suspect you are following them around, but not this one.

One thing that definitely IDs these guys as blue-gray and not California gnatcatchers is that blue-gray gnatcatchers have nearly all white under-tail feathers.  This next photo is not the greatest example of that.  California gnatcatchers have mostly black tail with white outlines on the under-tail feathers.

I usually find them by listening to their call.  They make a more raspy version of the call that California gnatcatchers make.  There's more vibration in their calls.  California gnatcatchers have a thinner, higher pitched call.  Right now, there are a lot more blue-gray gnatcatchers doing calls at the lake than California gnatcatchers.

I took a couple photos of some gulls as we had a gull tragedy today.  One apparently healthy and beautiful gull was found floating in the water with his head under water.  At first, I thought maybe he got a dose of bad bacteria from his food as is common with gulls around this time of year.  But, after thinking about it, I think it was just another case of a young gull dying in his sleep during a cold night.   It sometimes happens with very young gulls, I've noticed.  He was so perfect, I almost wanted to see if a museum wanted him as a specimen 

In the meantime, here are a couple photos of living gulls, the first one being a California gull:

I think this next photo is either a western gull with a pretty head, or a herring gull.  Most likely a western gull (or a hybrid):

And, a white crowned sparrow.

The common yellowthroat was out in the open again, but by the time I tried to take a photo of him, he decided to go back into the reeds and do his calls.

All the ducks are accounted for and seem to be doing fine.  The geese are fine, too, but are fighting a lot.

Gadwall and grebe day

The gadwalls seem to have calmed down a little at Lake Murray and are letting me get some photos.  And, there were a mess of eared grebes all around, too.  I think I saw at least 20 gadwalls and about 10 eared grebes today, very unusual.  Lots of lesser scaup, too, but nowhere as much as last year.

The one in front, I think, is a resident gadwall

This guy is very friendly

Other birds:

Lesser scaup

Young juvenile western gull

Older juvenile western gull

White crowned sparrow

And, a fun one of Pepper, stretching.

Visitors today in George Killdeer's area

Mary or Firecracker?

Today, there were some visitor's to the feeding area. One looked a lot like Firecracker, but didn't have her forehead marks. I couldn't make out who the visitors were, they were both small. But, I think one was almost definitely Mary and the other didn't look like her mate, but did look like a very young male, possibly one of her sons.

It's amazing how the two sisters look alike and like their mother

Killer kept an eye on the two of them while Digger stayed on the other side of the lake. George's son definitely let them know that he was the boss of the area. According to his actions, Mary was welcome, but the other one was not.

Killer and Mary

Eventually Digger came over, but remained hidden under some rocks. Later, they flew away to different spots. The young male started to follow Killer, but he trilled and swiped at him, so the male went somewhere else.

Also seen today was lots of white crowned sparrows:


And, a few Towhees:



This kingfisher was sitting on a wire and looked at me a little angrily:



Then, he flew over to a tree:




Curly was seen today and I tried to feed him some millet, sunflower seeds and a little cat food. However, two other young males kept attacking him, so I stopped. I've seen these males bite and attack curly before, almost pulling his tail feathers out. Curly is usually a high-ranking male, but these two have been bullying him a lot lately. I didn't want to encourage Curly to stay in the area and keep getting attacked, so I left.

George visits his son, a hurt duck, small birdies

Today was a cloudy, almost rainy day, so most of the photos I took came out very blurry. Here are a few:

One of Martha:



One of Tiny and his new mate:



Here's one of the family, minus Tiny's mate.



Tiny and his dad get along extremely well, but his mom, Martha, has a problem with Tiny's mate, especially if she gets close to George, her mate.

I don't know where Firecracker is, but when the family started to move further away, George ran back and forth seeming to look for her. So, she still might be around.

The ballfield killdeer were hanging around on the shoreline. I didn't know they were there until a hawk swooped at them, sending all 10 flying off. They all went and hid in plain sight on top of some brown dirt and rocks:



Ducks:

All the ducks are doing fine, but this one was the victim of the predator attack and the owner of the clump of down I posted about earlier. I don't know if anything can be done for him, perhaps he might heal on his own. I think he's one of Flycatcher's brothers:



Tom is looking good!



Oreo is wondering where the food is:



Here's the new crested duck:



Ducky plays around with a gadwall and his friends:



And, I think this is Chocolate 2! I don't remember her having a green bill, though. In her last photo, her bill was orange. This might be Chocolate 4, but when I called her name, she recognized me and ran right up:



Birdies:

Here are some nutmeg manikins (a former caged bird that escaped):



This is a gold-crowned sparrow, though you can't see the crown:



And, a white-crowned sparrow:



The blue heron followed me everywhere, all around the lake:

Tiny finds a mate, and his mom seems to approve

Tiny has a girlfriend

Tiny was seen with two other killdeer with him, both females. One was a small female whom I've never seen before, but seemed to be about his age. The other looked like his mom, Martha, whom I haven't seen in a while. Last time I saw Martha, she was a little sick, but seems a lot better now.

The new female, one I've never seen before

Mom, Martha, seems to approve of the young lady

Ducks:

I saw all the ducks except Snowball, the white mallard. I looked everywhere for him, all over the lake, but couldn't find any trace of him. A lot of the other mallards are missing, so it's entirely possible that he flew off somewhere else with them. There was a predator attack last weekend, but he was fine a couple of days ago and there has been no sign of predators attacking ducks since then. A northern harrier was also spotted today and they are known to take ducks, but I didn't find any evidence that any ducks were harmed recently. He may come back, eventually. I hope he went back to his home or was taken in by someone. I miss him already.

Curly was doing very well, even got some peas I gave him.

Tom was doing very well and I wanted to take his photo when I left Lake Murray, but he disappeared, probably sleeping in a tree across the lake.

I did get a photo of Big Daddy 3, one of the popular males in the park:



Also seen:

Some house finches:



Lots upon lots of white-crowned sparrows:



And, this egret was really concentrating on catching fish:



Bob1 was seen (I believe both "Bobs" are females, but not sure) I think she's molting:




I saw some flirting between two osprey, here is the male, the female is shyer:




And, these coots were wondering when they're going to get fed: