Tiny becomes a "ballfield killdeer"

Tiny has made himself at home in the ballfield

Tiny, one of George's 2 month old chicks, seems to be comfortable in the Lake Murray ballfields and was hanging around with Secret, Digger, an unknown young male and his look-a-like today. In another field, Shy, her dad and the "baby" killdeer were hanging out together. Shy and Digger have been watching Tiny and the other juvenile males with interest.

Shy hangs out with dad and watches the teenage "boys"

Two adults were in the large field, Field #7, all alone, keeping an eye out for hawks. The male Cooper's hawk was across the lake in George's territory trying to catch pigeons and terrorizing the ducks. George and the rest of his family were not seen even though the water levels have gone back down. I suspect that's because he's watching over young chicks. It's unknown what the role of his two last "teenage" chicks (Firecracker and Killer) are playing regarding the new babies (if any).

Tiny's a bit of a bully, it seems, and often starts fights. Secret seems to be his main target, though other juvenile males will take part. But, Secret is not a sissy and often fights back.

Secret , I think (left) and Tiny (right)

Challenge displays between Tiny and Secret

"Ow!" Tiny gets bit

Most of it is play much in the way that colts and bachelor stallions play-fight between each other. It's good preparation for adulthood.

In other lake news, there was some kind of fire in the reeds between the 1.75 and 2 mile mark along the walking path. It's a weird spot as it's not a popular fishing area and the fire seemed to have started near the road. I don't know any of the particulars about it such as when it started or how, but it seems odd. I hope it's just an isolated incident and not the start of a trend, especially as the season gets dry. Birds have sensitive lungs and breathing passages and fires in the area would devastate many of them.

Fire damage to reeds

Top of the reeds burned due to fire

I'm glad there are no baby coots or ducklings right now. The song sparrows seem to actually like hanging around the burnt reeds, I hope they and the marsh wrens didn't have any nests in there. The burned plants have a really sweet smell like someone is barbecuing with mesquite.

Tiny is the boss (or bully) of the ballfield

Ballfield killdeer:

Tiny waking up in the ballfields

Tiny made it through the night and was in the same spot where I left him this morning in the ballfield at Lake Murray. Several other killdeer were with him in that field, four friends in one field, two in the next and two parents in another field keeping an eye out for hawks. Several of the killdeer with Tiny seemed to be juveniles and at least one was a female and three were males, I'm not sure what the fifth one was.

Tiny made a move on the female who rejected him. But, Tiny didn't give up, began to chase her and was confronted by another male who backed off when Tiny challenged him. Other males came up, but Tiny bossed them all around. Then, everyone went back to eating.

Leave that female alone! says this male

Three males, Tiny in the middle, a female on the right

In the field next to them, the Tiny look-a-like was alone with the little baby (the youngest fledgling). I don't think they're related, but I think the bigger killdeer has taken a parental role in protecting the little one.

George and Martha's family:

No killdeers were seen in George's area. I am wondering what's going on with Killer and Firecracker. The water level seems to be going down, so maybe we'll see them again, soon. As I've said before, I have a strong suspicion that George and Martha have new little babies. I think Killer and Firecracker may be nearby, but probably not too close due to the new babies.

Not much else went on at the lake today. The ducks are fine, but when I did my count this morning, there seemed to be only half the mallards there usually were. It might be due to the weather. A lot of the white jumbo Pekin ducks were also missing, hopefully rescued and living a good life (not taken for meat).

A lot of the grackles are also gone, it seems.

Last night, I saw a "flock" of California quail.

Tiny sleeps in the ballfields

Today, I decided to visit the lake right before sunset. I saw Tiny in Alvarado Bay near some people feeding the ducks and the geese. I took some pictures of him before he got upset and started flying really, really high in the sky. He made deet calls all around Alvarado Bay before departing as if to tell his parents where he was going.

Tiny at Alvarado Bay

I watched as he flew very high then dropped down at the ballfields. I went over there and found him totally alone in an empty field. No other killdeer were around. He was out in the open and seemingly falling asleep. I watched for a while and saw no hawks, owls or anything else that would hurt him, though I still worried about him being all alone without a sentry to make alarm calls. But, I will be back tomorrow morning to check on him.

Going to bed in the ballfield

I'm glad he's going to the ballfield and socializing with the other killdeer, maybe he'll get together with Digger. I think the other killdeer probably showed up later, after dark, and kept him company.

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!

I went to the lake and I noticed that Tom's itching is a lot better. I found him sleeping, at first, and he appeared to have some sand on him. Then, he took a swim. I didn't see him scratch once! Hopefully, he will be OK.

Still haven't seen George and his family, though I do hear some killdeer calls and chirps over near the area where the chicks were hatched. I haven't seen them, physically, though. I suspect that Tiny and Firecracker are somewhere around there as that is close to the area where I see them fly when they're not in Alvarado Bay. The water level is really high and I know George hates being in Alvarado Bay and even Padre Point when the level is that high. And, there's too many people around on the beach, too.

Chasing hawks in the fog

Today was a really foggy day, so some photos seem faded and look blurry because of the fog. It's also a little more difficult to determine the males and the females, too.

Ballfield killdeer:

Today, I think I saw 11 killdeer in the ballfields at Lake Murray, including two in the large field that is hardly ever used. While I was checking out one field, a flock of birds flew over and I heard the anxious and angry calls of a lone killdeer in there. At one time, she (I think) almost did a broken wing act when I came in as if she's protecting a chick. But, I saw no young chicks.

A very upset killdeer

In the other fields, the juvenile males were playing around, sparring. I think I saw Shy or Digger in another field all alone. Her dad was watching from outside the fence. I didn't see him there, at first, and he flew off, when I almost stepped on him, into the field that had the angry killdeer, leaving his daughter with the 7 other killdeer in her area.

Juvenile killdeer playing at fighting

"Fight, fight, fight!"

I think this is Shy or Digger

I think this is the M6 (Beautiful) dad in the field closest to the hawk

The doves and the starlings were all sitting on wires and very few of them were on the ground.

I started checking around some of the other fields when I nearly bumped into a male Cooper's hawk sitting on a low fence. I couldn't get a photo of him right then, but I saw him fly to a higher fence, scaring all the one or two doves away. It was totally weird that one dove was sitting only feet away from him and nothing happened. A second dove even joined the first.

"What? I'm just sitting here 'tis all" (feathers are wet)

The hawk sat on that fence, drying his wings from the fog before jumping down on the ground to get a squirrel. But, strangely, the squirrel only moved away a few feet and didn't even try to hide. He kept scavenging on the ground with the hawk only a few feet away. It was only when I approached that the squirrel ran and hid.

"Hey, I thought I had a squirrel in my talons"

I was able to take more photos as I slowly approached him as he flew around. I really wanted to nudge him out of the area by making him uncomfortable. I was a bit worried about the juvenile killdeer and their parents that I didn't want to see him hanging around there. I didn't want to harass him (which is illegal), so I mostly just slowly approached where he was and stood there, looking at him and taking pictures. I could hear his mate calling in the distance, but he didn't answer. Finally, he decided to fly over to where the big ballfield was and into the tree. I checked on the two juveniles in that field twice and they seemed fine.

His mate was calling while he was sitting here

He was almost right over the dad's head at this point

I'm sure the hawk came back there after I was gone, but I didn't want to see him catch a killdeer while I was there watching. The hawks around there, so far, don't seem to be interested in the killdeer. They seem to want rodents and rabbits the most. Even the doves don't seem to get bothered though I do know that these hawks will eat one. Grackles, starlings and blackbirds are also common targets. I know they would eat a killdeer if they caught one, but they seem uninterested in them--so far.

George and Martha's family:

I didn't see them, again, but I did hear at least two of the family calling. One appeared to be calling either from the hatching area or the area where I last saw them as chicks. I think they were in the latter as someone was setting up a fishing spot when I arrived. I walked all around that area and did not see any killdeer.

Another was probably George himself calling when a fishing boat go too close to his hidden area.

I kinda suspect that George and Martha may have new chicks now. Hopefully, the older chicks won't hurt the babies. If I'm right, then we should see them flying around in about 28-35 days.

The lake was really busy and I don't think there were any spots around where George's family would be comfortable as they are a little shy with humans.

A word about Tom the Muscovy:

Tom is a black Muscovy duck who has been a resident of Lake Murray for a long time. He's the last of several Muscovy ducks that have slowly been dying out or disappearing over the last few years. Poor Tom seems to have mites or lice really bad and is constantly itching and pulling at his feathers. He has bare spots under his wings from constant grooming. He never seems to swim anymore and I haven't seen him fly recently. He still seems pretty happy, though, and will wag his tail if you approach him and call his name. I feel sorry for Tom and wish I could help him, but I don't think I can or even if I am allowed as Tom is feral. But, hopefully the itching will stop, soon, or someone can figure out a way to help him.

Tom, in an earlier photo

Argument at the lake

Ballfield killdeer:

"Hey, I was eating there!" says the one on the right

OK, it wasn't really an argument, but rather three juvenile males fooling around. I originally thought it was a juvenile male attacking Shy and her dad defending her, but after looking at the photos, I could tell it was three male juveniles, including the Tiny look-a-like and the curious very young male (smallest of the three). The curious one was attacked by a slightly older male, possibly "Secret" and the bigger of the three came to his defense. They postured and called to each other while the smallest one moved away. Then, the two older males moved out of the ballfield and play-fought in an open grassy area.

"Fight, fight, fight!" Says the one on the right

The curious one stayed behind and went really close to an open gate. I think he is very interested in what people were doing. At one time, when I didn't have my camera, I got him to come really close to me. I went back to get my camera and someone else came on the field and he got too nervous. He moved away from me and didn't come back. I was glad that he moved away from the gate as I was afraid he was going to get too friendly with people. Not everyone likes killdeer or will be as kind to them as me, so I didn't want him to be too interested in getting near humans. Plus, some people let their dogs run around off leash outside the fields and I want him to be weary of that, too.

"Hmmm, what's going on here?" Curious young male

I saw this beautiful female in another field.

Pretty female

No one is using the one large eastern ballfield anymore. I thought it was because of the construction, but I think it might be because of hawks or a falcon scare. They're used to the hawk, but a falcon scares the wits out of them. They may be back there, later, if no hawks or falcons are seen in the area.

George and Martha's Family

Since I came in the late afternoon, I did not see any of George and Martha's family. It's not unusual for that time of day during the last month of two to not see them. They've been staying in the safe area a lot and I don't see them very much. If the lake level gets lower, George and Martha may come back to forage in Alvarado Bay.

Digger (or Shy) "flirts" with dad in the ballfield

Lake Murray Ballfield Killdeer

I saw a really small, cute female in one of the ballfields with the M6 (Beautiful) Dad. She was really close to a fence and when I went over to see her, she crouched down on the ground and tried to hide in the grass. She appears to be around 8 weeks old, but still a little undersized. The dad constantly called and chirped to her when she made her alarm calls and trills at me. I think it might have been one of the two female chicks from the M6 area, most likely Digger.

Digger (or Shy) at 8 weeks

Eventually, she calmed down and started over towards her dad. It appeared that she was flirting with him as her behavior was totally strange. She would crouch down and seem tease him. When he came up to her, she would get up and run away. I don't know if she was being a flirt or trying to entice her dad into a game of chase by flashing her red tail feathers at him. Her dad responded with a swelled up neck and puffed up chest feathers, but little else. He may have been puffed up to warn other males to stay away from his daughter.

Playing around with dad

It's possible that the lack of a mom around may have confused her a little when it comes to flirting with her dad. Normally, the mom would be nearby to nip that kind of behavior from the beginning. But, it wasn't serious and I don't think she knew what she was doing. When a starling broke them up, the young female went back to feeding and the dad was shadowing her, not acting like he was interested in her other than protecting her. I think they tend to be at least 4 months old before they breed, so she's got a while to go. And, it's likely that another male will claim her before then (especially if she's a flirt).

A starling breaks them up

I'm glad to see them because they're really ripping it up in their territory. Here's a photo of the road being torn apart only a few feet from where the chicks used to hide:

Construction just feet from where Digger (or Shy) used to hide

It's possible that the other female chick was somewhere around, but I didn't see her.

George and Martha's Family

When I was leaving, I didn't expect to find any killdeers in Alvarado Bay as the water level was really high and George doesn't like it that high. But, when I was walking through a grassy area, a large killdeer flew off. It called and even though I couldn't see it, it sounded like it landed passed the fenced area and called to a second killdeer nearby. I couldn't get a photo of the first killdeer, but I think it was Tiny as the second killdeer was Firecracker. Even when they were chicks, they were almost always together. Firecracker flew off and I thought I saw her going to a little bay on the north side, but when I got there, she was gone. I can't figure out where they go when they go to the north side.

Firecracker at 8 weeks

George and Martha haven't been seen for over a week and I'm beginning to suspect that they may have a new nest and possibly new chicks. George becomes very parental the last week before the eggs hatch and the first week the chicks are around. I saw Martha flirting with George about a month ago, so that would mean that the eggs, if there are any, have hatched. Unfortunately, I can't get to that area to check on them.

Also, the third chick, Killer, hasn't been seen for a while, but he was always scared of people and being out in the open. When he was a chick, from the third day, he always lagged behind to stay hidden longer. So, he may still be with mom and dad, which would indicate that there are probably no new chicks, yet.

Also Seen:

A spotted sandpiper. I didn't notice the piece of plastic when I took this photo or I would have picked it up:



A bunch of baby grebes and a parent:



Two ganders (the brown one can be bitey):



I think this might be an Anna's hummingbird because it has a red crown. This guy was demanding that I take his photo: