Dabbler party

It often happens that there is a spot across the canal that gets really popular with the local inhabitants.  It's in the shallow water near shore and it must be a good fishing spot or something.  Over the last few days many Muscovies and mottled ducks, and even the Egyptian geese have gone over there to dabble or look around.  The mottled and Muscovy ducks are known as dabbling ducks and they like to stick their heads under water and see what they can come up with.  I did not see the geese doing any dabbling but they are nosy critters so they probably just wanted to see what all the buzz was about and join the party.  Even the tricolor heron spent some time over there after visiting my side of the canal by the dock.

So what's doing over here?

Tricolor heron during magic hour just before sunset checks out the party venue

Even a hawk flew from the ground near the party of dabblers up to the dead tree.  So he must have been a guest at the fete too.

The party got too intense so I retreated up here but they're still at it down there.

Before getting involved across the canal, that small tricolor heron spent time by my side of the bank, looking for the little fish that he loves to eat and that stay near the shore.  He later climbed up on the bank to see what was going on there but went back to checking out the little fish.

Stretching out to get a good look around

The geese have been staying longer in the backyard.  One day they honked loudly and flew off right after arriving but then returned.  They seem to be getting territorial and tried to make sure no other pair landed here.  That usually happens more often during breeding season but I guess they wanted to get the jump on calling the backyard as theirs.  For a while they slept standing up in the backyard and then went down to the beach for a drink and some relaxation at the shore.

Geese at the beach

There was a little gallinule drama today in that the two regulars seemed to chase away the third younger one whenever he comes near.  He hasn't gotten the message yet.  The other two have been strutting around the backyard when I'm not out there and scrounging for seeds with the other ducks.

A pair of green herons also flew by the other day.  I always like to see pairs.  And the pair of grebes is still in the canal.

As for the usual Muscovies, Cutie2, CutieTips, 2 harem girls, the juveniles and their mom, Blanco, Big Boy, Lazlo and several other males come by regularly.  The juveniles rested under the ficus after breakfast with their mom.  The one with the white tips on her wings seems to have a slight limp but it doesn't bother her much.  Lazlo tried three times to mate with a harem girl but was interrupted by his brother Big Boy and another male.  He was able to finish the next day.

The attempt that failed

Muscovy male Big Boy who was born back in April, is now the dominant male in the backyard.  He edged away the big handsome male that call duck Colson loves to chase after a big huffing match.

As for Colson, he is still around with his posse of mottled ducks, more than a dozen of them.  He persists in chasing off the one big Muscovy male but everyone else in the backyard picks on him as he is the smallest.

Big guy tries to get in a bite before Colson notices and chases him off

In the saga of the orphaned eggs, I candled them again today.  There seem to still be 3 viable ones.  One is much fuller than the others.  One is a lot less developed but all are 3 moving.  I wonder if one is going to hatch sooner than I expect.

The feral mom tuxedo cat was back in the backyard today after a long absence.  She just sat under the bush and watched me clean up.  There were no birds around to stalk as they already went home for the evening.  So I guess she might have been waiting for dark to see if any rats come out.

Chillin until a late night snack shows up

Finally there was a pretty sunset in the neighborhood to end the day.
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Goodnight sun