Monday Girl

The new coot who arrived at five AM Monday September 29 is named "Monday" for the Mother Goose rhyme "Monday's child is fair of face...".

The new bird continues to be a mystery. She seems perfectly tame, expects to be hand fed, and understands that dishes and cups provide food and water.

She allowed me to pick her up, but doesn't like being handled, and must fluff her feathers after I set her down. After a few times, she has become wary of being picked up, and won't allow me to catch her.

She has the the feminine features of a small narrow head and a small and flat frontal shield.

After two weeks, I heard her softly "clucking" at Beaky as he approached her. This is part of the typical female greeting to a male. This was the first time I had heard her make a sound since she first arrived.

In the last few days of October, Monday stands at the bottom of the stairs, and slaps her left foot on the step while clucking at Beaky as he waits in the water below. This is a common female coot display associated with mating, but Beaky ignores her and pushes her aside as he climbs up to the food dish.

Monday and Beaky are soon bowing together as they work out their new relationship.

These birds like to have their heads and ears scratched, and the bowing is the first invitation. Usually, this only works between a male and female coot.

Monday is persistant, and Beaky starts by nibbling her ear.

Eventually, one bird will succomb to the other bird's will, and start nibbling first.

In the past years, Beaky would demand that he get all the nibbling, and Missy got very little attention. Missy would fret and worry about displeasing Beaky as he would threaten her away from his food. Monday is calm and relaxed, and seems to take everything in stride.

And Monday is scratching his head.

It always takes a few weeks for a newly arrived female to begin these calls and displays. I have always wondered if these things are instinctive, learned, or if it just takes time for the two birds to get to know each other better.

It seems to me that the large number and variety of coot calls and displays are simply emotional outbursts, and the coots have a much wider range of emotion than most birds. Indeed, in the way these birds react to what they see, and each other, their behavior is almost cartoonish and certainly entertaining.

At times, Beaky will bite her hard on the entire head or neck. I never saw him do this to Missy, but he did this to previous females years ago. They were terrified by this, but Monday seems to accept this as part of the grooming process. After several days, I don't see Beaky do this again as it seems to have no affect.

Corn

Both Monday (shown at right) and Beaky like corn. Most wild coots won't eat corn, even if it is placed in their beaks.

Late last year, Beaky tired of corn, and refused to eat it. Now, after a break of several months, he likes it again.

Monday is also unusual since she likes to walk down steps. Most coots won't struggle with steps, especially going down.

Phalarope

A Red-necked Phalarope, juvenile was photographed October 1, 2008 approximately six miles West of Point Loma. Warm, summer weather continues into October.

Grebe

This Clarks grebe was a brief visitor October 15. This is a large bird, slightly bigger than a coot. It is blind in its right eye.

New Coots

A few new coots arrive, but by the middle of the month, none of last year's coots have returned.

This female apparently has not been here before. If you can recognize birds' facial expressions, you will see that this coot has an expression of terror. Having traveled all night, this bird is hungry and thirsty. She is keeping her head up and her eyes open, after having arrived in this strange place.

Freddie ?

This male coot arrived late in October and runs to me to be fed. He looks a lot like Freddie from last year. His facial appearance is also similar to the Number 3 male. Number 3 seemed larger with a more square shaped head.

He has a lot of light green in his toes, and doesn't appear to be more than a year old. Freddie would be three years old now. Both Freddie and Number 3 were able to hop directly from the water onto the dock. This bird shows no signs of doing that, in spite of calling and coaxing.

I spent an hour studying pictures from last winter, and I believe this is a returnee that looks like Freddie, but is not. I found a picture that looks like this bird with the title "notfreddie." Evidently this bird didn't impress me then, but he certainly remembers me.

Louse Fly

Near the end of the month, I noticed a Brown pelican with an insect that looks like the Pigeon Louse Fly or Pigeon Fly, Pseudolychia canariensis (Macquart). I have seen these on pigeons here, but never on waterfowl. I called the County of San Diego Environmental Health department and found that this insect is not considered a vector for West Nile virus. According to the county veterinarian, it is not unusual to find all sorts of parasites on wild birds.

Hopefully, this will be an isolated incident.

The Osprey

The Port of San Diego recently planted this imaginative sign promoting the osprey, after Port of San Diego demolition destroyed their nests on Marina Parkway a few years ago. If you call the Port of San Diego information number and ask to talk to their field biologist, you will be told that they don't have one.

More recently, the osprey have been nesting on Goodrich property nearby.

In January of 2007, the osprey attempted a nest on a street utility pole by the Marine Group boatyard. This nest was quickly destroyed by unknown means.

Big Picture:

New arrivals fight over food in the marina. One of these males comes running up to me, and may be Freddie from last winter.

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