A couple of photos from the lake

Herring gull

I haven't been at the lake much and when I have been, I haven't been taking a whole lot of photos.  I also went to the San Diego River area and took some photos that I haven't posted yet.  But, here are a few Lake Murray photos I took this morning beginning with the herring gull above. It may be the same herring gull I've seen for the last few years, the first year being a young juvenile.

Below, a brave sora came out to eat the food that people left for the ducks:

Here is Cinnamon and her one true boyfriend.  She is usually surrounded by at least four males, but this is the one that she loves.

And, finally, a photo of Pepper's good side.  He insists that people only see his good side, not the side with the messed up wing:

Ducks and a broken-legged coot

I spent part of this morning chasing around a Wilson's snipe at Lake Murray, (Well, not actually because I didn't want to harass him and keep him from eating or resting.)  All I got was one blurry photo of his rump.  When I first saw him, I had a good chance of getting a photo of him, but a nearby egret flew off and ever since then, he had decided that I was a scary predator, so there was no getting him to stay still.

I did see Cinnamon, but with only three boyfriends.  Her real boyfriend is the one to her right with the large white ring.  The one behind her thinks he's her boyfriend, but he is not.  If you watch Cinnamon long enough, she makes it very clear that the one on her right is her true mate. It was kinda funny watching him because there was another duck that sounded like Cinnamon calling and every time the other duck called, he would look at Cinnamon.

Here is Cinnamon's fourth boyfriend, Stumpy:

I also came across this coot with a very badly broken leg.  He/she didn't seem to be suffering in terms of being in intense pain and was behaving, otherwise, normally.  I'm hoping it doesn't get infected.  It's a very clean break and, perhaps it can be repaired.  He/she is very friendly and will approach for food.  But, he/she also has a very protective mate that watches over him/her.

George and Martha are back?

I thought I saw George around a few times, but wasn't very sure.  I think this next picture might be him:

And, I think this might be Martha. I thought it might be Dee, at first, but Dee doesn't have two very distinct marks on her face that this killdeer has.  Both George and Martha were spotted very early in the morning.

Later, I think I saw George with a different killdeer.  It looked similar to Martha, but its breast bands were thinner.  Perhaps one of their offspring?

I think this might be George, again.

I thought I would take a photo of Pepper with his good side.

Bonaparte's gull and white pelicans

I went and took some photos at Lake Murray yesterday afternoon and this morning.  I was surprised to find a Bonaparte's gull there this morning.  I think it's a first winter juvenile.  I've never seen one of those at this lake before.  He was trying to snatch fish out of the water like terns do.

Yesterday, I saw a huge flock of white pelicans flying around the lake.

Really big.  They landed far away, so I didn't get a picture of them.

There were already a few on the ground, waiting:

When I was there, yesterday, the crows were beginning to roost:

They played games with each other and harassed the other birds.

This morning, I saw this big ground of male killdeer milling around:

One looked like Little Miracle.  She and another killdeer wouldn't stop yelling at me.  The others didn't seem to mind.

This pretty duck was back for another winter here at Lake Murray:

And, I think this might be Indy.  His feathers look rough.  His two brothers looks about the same as he does.  I still haven't got the word as to whether or not Project Wildlife really did release him, so this may not be him, afterall.  But, it sure looks like him.

Some fall migrating ducks

Just a few duck photos of our fall visitors beginning with some female cinnamon teal:

Where're the boys?

A ruddy duck, though they're here all year around, just not usually at this lake:

Wigeons:

And, there were a few killdeer around.  This one looks like Shy's Mate:

This could be his son, he looks a lot like Miracle:

Lots of killdeer and a pelican

Killdeer at sunrise

Lots of killdeer around today, hanging around in Cooper's hawk territory.  I think I counted nine or ten of them including Squeak:

Squeak

And Miracle (I think that's Killer Jr. in the background):

Three other killdeer.  I think one might be Killer and the others might be the offspring of the "Beautiful Dad":

This one looks like George III:

Fred, the greater yellowlegs, has finally found the killdeers and is happy now:

Unfortunately, the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual on the killdeer's end:

A white pelican visited Lake Murray today, but he didn't seem to be very hungry and looked to be not feeling too good.  I think he might just be tired and needed to rest:

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the faded mallard drake might be one of Indy's brothers:

These might be Indy's other siblings, but no sign of Indy anywhere:

This is the first northern shoveler I've seen at the lake so far this year.  The scaups are starting to come in, too.  But, the only gadwall's I've seen, so far,  are the ones that are at the lake all year-round.

Autumn Day in San Diego

It's a fall day in San Diego, that usually means Santa Ana winds.  But, today, it was partly cloudy and cool.  Big Daddy and the other ducks were busy doing their duck things:

I bet the female redhead that was here all summer is happy there's a male around now:

Lots of ruddy ducks here now.  And, I saw some lesser scaup, too.  Not that many gadwalls, though.

I think this might be Neo, who just turned 6 months old a couple days ago.  He's soon to be the star of his own YouTube slideshow called "Neo, the Duckling that---LIVED!"

This male crested pekin was looking silly running up to me:

Hey guys, wait for me!

No, we are going to swim over here now.

Lots of western grebes kreek kreeking:

And, some killdeer in the ballfield, but I am not sure who they are.  They look like Puffy Band, but one looks a little bit like Miracle.  I think, though, they are not any of the ones I regularly observed: