Firecracker and Tiny?

Martha keeps watch over two other killdeer

Please bear with me as I hang on to hope that the new killdeer I've been seeing in George and Martha's territory are actually the two chicks and not new killdeer arriving for the fall early. I may have some "false" sightings

Today, when I arrived, I found George and Martha on the north side of the parking lot, but no sign of any other killdeer anywhere else (not even the "chicks") on the lake until I got to the ballfields. There, I originally saw ten, all of the same size. However, the one that I suspect is "Secret", the third killdeer chick from the M6 territory, got really upset soon after I got there and flew out. Eventually, she flew back to Del Cerro Point and hid in the brush. Another killdeer, I'm assuming her mom, tried her best to get her to go back to the field, but she wouldn't. It's just as well as the starlings decided to visit and all the other 8 killdeer ended up being pushed back to one little spot in the field.

While Secret and her mom were calling to each other, I heard two very distinct killdeer calls coming from the M6 territory. I'm very sure that all is well over there with Digger and her dad and possibly Shy, too. I don't know when or if they will join the "flock" over at the ballfield.

Firecracker and Tiny?

When I checked through my photos from a few days ago, I found a photo of a very shy male with underdeveloped wings standing near Martha before she flew over to fight with the intruding male. I had originally thought that killdeer was George at first as he flew off to the north and then it seemed that he flew back. But, when I was watching the family fight this male, a male flew back to the same spot where I saw Martha and the shy male in the first place. I thought it was another male waiting his turn to court the young female. Now, after looking at the photos, I know it was a youngster.

Today, when I was about to leave, I heard killdeer peeps in the west side of Alvarado Bay (where the grackles used to live) and found Martha and another, slightly smaller, killdeer nearby. Soon, I found out that there were three killdeer. I approached closer and thought I heard a trill, but couldn't tell if it was from mom protecting them, a killdeer picking a fight with Martha, Martha picking a fight with these two, or a chick being very nervous with me. Martha made no attempts to call for back-up and have George chase the intruders out, especially the male, which reinforces the idea that these are the chicks.

Martha and "Tiny" the male. Martha was standing on a sand bar, I think

Martha watches over Firecracker

I noticed there was a young male and a female there, though the female didn't look quite the same as the one I saw a few days ago. She was more golden brown, but she was also more dirty with gold-colored dirt all over her. The new color could be a combination of dirt and exposure to sunlight, but I can't be sure. It was also cloudier today than the other day. I looked closely at these photos and the photos I took before and both females in both sets of photos look very similar if not identical. So, I think there's a good chance that this is the same bird I saw before.

Am I dirty? I didn't notice.

Both her and the male looked like something was wrong with their wings, not deformed, but missing a feather or two. This may explain the reason why they couldn't seem to fly very high or do certain moves that the adults can do. They were all the same size, Martha and the two others. I could see what looked like new black feathers starting to grow on the female. The male's "mustache" was almost non-existent, but there appeared to be a "template" for where one was to grow.

Their feathers don't lay right around the tail area, something's missing (Tiny)

An earlier photo of Martha and Mary. See how their feathers lay near the tail?

George was not with the family when I saw them. I don't know where he was. It's possible that he was trying to avoid a fight with the little male or causing some other kind of stress with him. His last son was very aggressive towards his dad and often attacked him even at a very young age. George was often within "shouting distance" in case his son needed help, but the younger killdeer didn't want anything to do with his dad otherwise. Both dad and son avoided and stayed out of each other's way. This young male already seems to be taking a protective role with Martha and the little female.

Or, George could be setting up a place for the other male killdeer chick to live as both male chicks would have a hard time sharing the same space as they get older and breeding season starts.

Martha seemed to be protecting the two new killdeer. She even "stood watch" as they went along foraging. She stood behind them on a rock and watched me. If I made any kind of move in their direction, she would give the alarm call. But, mostly, they were very quiet.

The reason why I think this might be Tiny and Firecracker and not Firecracker and Killer (the middle chick) is that Killer hasn't been physically seen since day 3. I thought I heard him after that, but I didn't see him. It may just be that he's good at hiding and may still be scared being out in the open, which is why I haven't seen him lately. At least these two young killdeer are not very shy and scared of me as most of the other killdeer.

I don't think they've learned anything about predators yet. Martha seems to be teaching them by giving her alarm calls when I get to a certain distance away from them. This is a good time for them to come out as there are no grackles, crows or hawks in the area right now. There are vultures, but they don't like to put any effort into catching their food, so they won't chase them down.

Also seen today:

A little duckling, now probably 8 days old. Mom is letting him come up to me. Maybe it's the peas I give them, though they don't seem to eat any when I'm around.

Where's the peas, where's the peas, where's the corn, where's the peas?

Chicks' debut or new fall arrivals?

Aren't I cute? Little female's breastband looks like Martha's

Today started out like any other day at the lake, except that I almost stepped right on George and Martha as I entered into the park. I didn't see them until I was only a few feet away and they took off without making a sound. They were both very calm. A little spotted sandpiper made his appearance, too, following me around as I looked at the ducks and fed them some peas.

Martha and a sandpiper early in the morning

It was strange, no crows, blackbirds and grackles were seen or heard in George and Martha's little part of the world.

At the ballfield, I initially found 7 killdeer and then went to go look at the ducks in Del Cerro Bay. I saw two juvenile Cooper's hawks there. The little duckling was there and swimming right towards the hawks, but I think he ended up hiding in or near some reeds, so I think he was safe for the day. The grackles were spending the day on Del Cerro Point as well as near Cowles point, too. Very few grackles seen today. I the hawks are putting some pressure on them to leave the area.

Back at the ballpark, the second time I came around, I found ten killdeer there. One killdeer was calling on Cowles Point, but then flew over into the ballfield. When I looked, there seemed to be one or two possible small adults, maybe recently fledged chicks. I couldn't be sure as it's also getting close to having fall arrivals migrating into the area. It's still early, but they could start arriving at any time.

One of the small ones was a slim male, very dark in color.


The other small one might be a female.



When I went back to George and Martha's "home", I heard the sounds of territorial killdeer calls. George and Martha were on one side of the bay and two other killdeers were on the other. A third killdeer, a male, may have also been near the other two. George flew off when I got too close and made loud territorial calls all over his territory, even on the north side. Martha flew off and landed close to the invading couple and got into an argument with the invading male.

I went around to the other side and George had returned. I could see George and Martha totally puffed up and angry, mostly directing their anger mostly towards a male with a white feather on his back. I originally thought it was M4 (Grandpa killdeer), but his breast band was different than this one. There also was a small, cute, adorable little female killdeer who didn't seem to be interested in fighting at all. I thought I saw Martha make an aggressive move towards her, but if she did, she wasn't serious. Most of the attention was on Whitefeather, the large adult male. And, Whitefeather's attention was divided between Martha and George and the little pale-colored female.

George "dips" while Whitefeather goes around to confront him. The little female is on the right.

George (on rock) Martha (Left front) and Whitefeather (Left behind). All puffed up.

The little female seemed more interested in what I was doing and started to watch me take pictures of her. She didn't seem afraid of me at all, but cautious. Eventually, she pretty much walked right up to me, almost unafraid. I was hoping that this was Firecracker, the little female chick whom I thought was dead almost five weeks ago. She would be about 38 or 39 days old now, the right time for a killdeer chick to make her appearance into the open world and into killdeer society.

The little female on the left starts to come up to me while Whitefeather watches her and George and Martha watch him

Female chicks almost immediately get courted by adult males when they come out into the open. It's possible that mom and dad were defending her as she is not full grown for another two weeks. It also explained the arrival of another full-grown male on the scene, interested in all the hub-bub. I don't think that other male is Tiny or Killer, Firecracker's brothers, but I will have to get a better look to see next time.

However, this female is very pale and that often indicates that she may be an older female and not a chick. I've noticed that younger killdeer seem to be darker brown than the older ones and they get paler as they get older. But, I haven't confirmed that theory, yet. I have noticed that George, who used to be golden brown has started to get paler over the last year, especially at the base of some of his feathers. But, her color is mostly evenly spread throughout her body and that might indicate youth.

The little female passes within a couple feet of me. She has algae in her mouth

The male who was interested in this female began to become concerned for her as she walked away and started following with Martha following behind. George continued to stand on a rock and proclaim his territory until another human being walked by and scared them away.

George demands that everyone come back and fight with him

If this little female is Firecracker, her brothers may make their appearance next.

More ducklings! Update on Fish Food Ducklings

I made an extended version of the Fish Food ducklings slideshow:






Today, I think I saw all three of those ducklings plus their mom. They are about 9 1/2 weeks old now.

Peaches



Caramel



I think this is Butterscotch, but could be one of the Hawk Food ducklings who have been missing for a while. However, she shares many characteristics of her supposed mom and sisters, that I think it might be her. I thought I saw Butterscotch in another area of the lake, but she could have swam to this spot while I was walking there.



Here is a little 5 to 6 week old that I think is a survivor of the six ducklings that disappeared after July 4th.



Remember this little guy? This might be the duck above:



And, I saw another little duckling, probably less than a week (about 5 days) old:



Sir Francis' leg is doing really well.



No sign of the other injured duck. Maybe he is doing better.

Killdeer Update:

George and Martha were missing both times I passed through their territory. 7 killdeers were in the ballfield, but no sign of any chicks making their debut, yet. The killdeers in the ballfield were super quiet, you wouldn't even know if they're there if you didn't see them.

Also seen:

I gave the ducks some Crisp Rice, but the grackles got most of it, instead, and were feeding it to some babies.



It was all quiet in George and Martha's territory and this guy is the reason why:

Male Cooper's Hawk



He even scared the ducks even though they're too big for him. A juvenile red-tail hawk was sharing the area, also, probably because he wanted to steal the Cooper's hawk's food.


And, I thought this was a cute photo:

A wood duck and a female mallard in the sun.

Rose-Ring Parakeet flock in College Area

There is a flock of what I suspect to be rose-ring parakeets flying around the College Area of San Diego. I hear that there was a colony on SDSU and the trees or habitat they used was destroyed. The people who had removed the habitat say that the birds haven't been there in 14 years. Well, I've been hearing the flock flying around for the last week or two. I even saw them at the College Grove shopping center.

If you've seen the birds and have video and/or photographs, please let me know. If you get photos before I do, I will post them here with credit to you.

Thanks!

A chick was heard in Cowles' Bay!

A killdeer chick was heard deeting to the M6 mom making deet calls as she flew from the M6 area to the ballfield where other killdeer were feeding. While she was flying over, the chick could be heard calling to her for several seconds. It wasn't quite as loud as the mom, but almost.

It might be one of three things:

It might be the third chick, sibling to Digger and Shy, and whom I am going to name "Secret" for now (because he is so good at hiding, it's almost a secret that he is alive). I have a strong feeling that he followed his mom to Del Cerro Point when she left with another male and has been living there ever since. I also suspect that the chick has been slowly making his way to the ballfield all the way around Del Cerro Point and has now parked himself in this area to be close to his mom. If this is true, he may visit the ballpark within the next week or two.

Or, it's one of "Junior's" (formerly "Little Male") chicks. I don't know where Junior made his nest, however and it's been quiet there until recently.

Or, it could be another female sitting on a nest in that area.

When I went to go look for whatever it was, it quieted down and I couldn't find anything.

On the other side of the lake, George and Martha were hanging out in their feeding area at Alvarado Bay. No sign of the chicks, whom I am hoping are hiding nearby. George and Martha may feed there more often to encourage the chicks to come out of hiding and visit them in another week or two.

Martha

George

Duck update:

I didn't see that hurt young duck today, but someone else did. Also, someone else confirmed that it was not the grown duck named Sir Francis Drake as he was seen in his usual spot. I did learn something about Sir Francis, he is over 3 years old and had that fishing line around his leg for about a year before he was caught. He looks a lot better now, much more happy and energetic and can keep up with the other ducks while swimming. His foot may be permanently damaged, though and he may never walk normally again. But, I think he will heal a little bit.

Sir Francis Drake today with his curled foot

The other injured duck was determined to be one of the older ducklings, at least four months old. I don't know what happened to him, but I hope he heals up. Perhaps he will have an easier time of it since he's young.

Duck update for Lake Murray

Molting ducks, some adults, some older ducklings

The ducks are molting! Now, I can't tell the difference between the ducklings and the adults as they are all molting and most of them are the same colors! There are a few, mostly the younger ducklings, that you can still tell that they're ducklings, but most of the older ones you can't tell how old they are. All the surviving ducklings that I know of at Lake Murray are 8 to 16 weeks old (there are a few broods that would be about five to six weeks old, but I haven't seen them lately. Even they would blend in well.). The 8 week olds and younger are still easy to pick out, but anything older, especially flying ducklings, are more difficult. Adult males are entering the "Eclipse" phase where they look like juveniles or large females. This is good, it allows the ducklings born over the summer to stay out of the mating frenzy and keeps them from being mated too soon.

Update on the injured duckling/duck



I went over and tried to find the injured duck that I saw last Sunday. I did find one duck with an unusable leg on the shore. He was standing on one leg, preening himself and seemed OK except for that one leg. He let me get really close before he stumbled into the water and swam away. He looked like an older duckling, but may actually be an older adult duck named "Sir Francis Drake" entering his Eclipse phase. Sir Francis also had a hurt left leg and recently was caught and a wire removed from his leg. He seemed pretty OK otherwise.

Perhaps the injured duckling is actually a molting adult male. However, the duck I saw on Sunday was really bad off and couldn't stand on either leg. Plus, he couldn't fly. Sir Francis Drake can fly, but he may not have been able to do that during the molt. But, I think Sir Francis has a bright yellow bill and this duck has a green bill with a little blue and orange showing up. As far as I know, only young ducks have a green bill. I will have to do some research on this.

"Sir Francis Drake" before the wire was removed from his leg

In any case, I didn't see any other injured ducks today.

Killdeer update:

George and Martha were not seen or heard today. There were 4 pairs of killdeer in one ballfield plus Mary. I think there might have been a few more in the other ballfields, but it may have been the killdeer shifting around because the starlings were flying from field to field being bullies. I thought I heard the M6 dad or his chick calling. At 4.5 weeks old, the chicks should have a voice almost as loud as an adult.

Also seen:

A turkey vulture, probably looking for dead animals/ducks or live chicks.



And, a mottled black and white duck. I think this duck was part Indian runner. Maybe the other part was related to the Muscovy duck in the area.

Older duckling in trouble!

An older duckling, similar to this one, is in trouble and needs help

When I went to Lake Murray today, all seemed fine except George was not at Alvarado Bay when I first arrived. All the ducks and geese were coming across the bay in preparation of being fed and the Muscovy came out of the water to greet me, but didn't wag his tail like he did last time. I walked across the parking lot to the other area and saw more ducks, but no George.

As I was beginning to walk away, I saw one of the older ducklings (about eight or nine weeks old) struggling to get on his feet. One leg seemed to be completely pinned against his body and the other one didn't look too good. I thought I could catch him as he was totally struggling to get up and into the water, but he made it into the water and swam too far out before I could do so. His one "good" leg was totally struggling. But, otherwise, he seems healthy. I think some fishing wire got caught around both his feet. Hopefully, he can be caught and the wire removed before a predator gets him or he starves as he can't get all the food he needs unless he can walk and/or dabble.

Even though the duckling has most of his flight feathers, he still doesn't seem to be able to fly or know how, yet. I didn't see him a couple hours later, so maybe someone caught and removed the wire. At his age, he will heal fast if he's caught early enough. All the other ducks there seemed fine when I came back, but this duckling may have chosen to sleep in the water instead of on land. I didn't get a photo of him because I was more concerned about catching him than taking a photo of his suffering.

There are a lot of people at this lake who watch out for birds in this situation and try to help. I've seen at least one other duck live months with wire around his leg. It's unfortunate that such a young duck, who doesn't seem to be able to fly, yet, has to go through this.

So, if you're at Murray near the parking lot on the north side, bring your wire clippers if you catch this guy. I have posted a photo of a similar-looking duckling at the top of the blog.

"Chickeater," the juvenile seagull that I saw eating a chick a while back, was eying that lame duck. I told him to leave him alone and he proceeded to go for a swim around the area, seemingly following me around. I think he was looking for me to feed him. He went to a bunch of grebes and coots, then to Padre point where he swam around, possibly looking for bread or baby birds.

"Chickeater" decides to go for a swim around the lake.

Killdeer Update:

Mary was seen at the ballfield with six other adult killdeer. She seems to be the odd killdeer out. All those other killdeer are paired up, but one male seems to like her, but the other female probably won't let them pair up. She will have a better chance of getting a mate during migration season when the other killdeer in the north migrate back to the area in a couple of months.

"Beautiful Dad" (The M6 dad of Digger and Shy) was heard doing alarm calls near the benches in the closed area when a fishing boat came close to that shore.

George was seen in Alvarado Bay, I think. I saw a male resembling George in his feeding area. I couldn't see all of his breast-band, but I'm pretty sure it's him. He was very calm and let me get really close. Someone left some trash candles on the beach and I think he was hoping that was bread topped with ants. I was afraid he or the ducks would get sick, so I removed as much of it as I could. I don't think any of them will accidentally ingest that and there's no young chicks or ducklings around to try and eat it.

George hangs out with the sleeping ducks