In August and September of 2008 fifty mallards would assemble in the parking lot every day. Presumably, they were being baited. After September 23, 2008 all were gone from the parking lot. The half of them that had survived were huddled in terror at Chula Vista Bayside Park, as far away as they could go toward the bay.

Usually there are dozens of duck eggs scattered around the marina every year in March. Eggs can be found on boats, under shrubbery, and even on the concrete docks and sidewalks. The duck eggs must have very thick shells, and it is unusual to find a broken egg.

Rumors were that the marina employees were taking the eggs, and paying children to collect them.

It was obvious that someone was taking the eggs, since this had never happened in all the past years.

In spite of disruption of nests and taking eggs, a few broods of chicks hatched in April.

Everyone who has watched the ducks over the past several years knows that the ducklings die of starvation or predation one every day or two. It is a rare family that has more than one or two chicks after several weeks.

People often count the ducklings every day over a period of weeks to see how many have survived.

However, in April and May whenever a family of ducklings is seen in the marina, they are all gone the next day.

On the weekends of May 2 and May 9, broods of ducklings were reported as disappearing mysteriously.

No Herbicide

The lawn at the north end of Chula Vista Bayside Park seems dry and neglected. There is no sign of the herbicide that was used to kill the clover. The lawn appears to have had no water for some time.

Areas of the lawn around the clover plants remain green and healthy, including the grass among the clover.

A lawn of four-leaf clovers creates its own fertilizer and has deep roots that resist drought. According to David Beaulieu of About.com: "At the very least, I'd say any homeowner would be lucky to have such a plant, instead of lawn grass."

Changes

Last September when a conflict in feeding arrangements started with Monday's arrival, I placed her on the boat's swim step with her own food dish and water cup. After a week of separate feeding, Beaky was watching her carefully and decided he wanted to try what she was having.

Since then both birds were fed on the boat's swim step.

On May 16 Beaky Coot decided that he prefers to be back on the dock again.

Beaky was reported as trying to climb up a boat fender to get onto the dock. Since then the two boat fenders tied together that he uses as a step were replaced. Now he can climb up even when the boat is gone.

In fact, he changes his roosting and hiding spots on a routine basis, so he sometimes just seems to disappear among the boats.

Herbicide

This photograph taken the second week of May shows a patch of the lawn that had been treated with herbicide to kill the clover a few months ago. The clover has recovered, and must be resistant to RoundUp herbicide.

Large parts of the lawn (with grass) are still dead, and are dry now.

Poison Bait Box

In May, the poison bait box is still there at the north end of Bayside Park, apparently untouched, with the open seam showing.

This was reported to the pest control company last month.

Flying

Beaky Coot makes flying attempts in May, but never rises more than an inch above the water.

He has become lethargic, and late for feeding. He eats very little but does not seem to be sick this spring. In past years, he would stop eating and sometimes show me a sore foot by holding it up.

Now he appears to be in excellent physical condition, and has lost the gray feathers on the right side of his head. But he still can't fly.

The marina is a huge lonely place for a little bird. He slowly paddles around and around the docks. He looks out onto the open bay where he often directs his failed flying attempts. He stops and turns 360 degrees in the water making the coot recognition call. He gets no answer.

Superworms

The superworms that replaced the (now unavailable) mealworms present a problem. They bite, not hard enough to break your skin, but certainly painful for small animals eating them. Wild coots are often afraid of them, but soon learn to swallow them whole since the worms drown quickly.

Beaky Coot is in no hurry and usually takes his time nibbling the worm from one end to the other until it stops moving. But recently, he seems to have a better understanding of the problem and kills the worm with a bite to the worm's head.

In Or Out?

Half inch wire screen placed on the bottoms of this fence neither keeps the ducks in nor out. They fly like birds.

However, for American coots, this is an insurmountable obstacle.

Two Blackbirds

This crippled female blackbird and her mate come to visit on the last few days of May. They may be part of the flock that would visit every morning before they all disappeared at the end of March. They seem to be here for a reason, but don't seem to recognize the superworms as food. They do stop for a few minutes and eat some of the rolled oats before they go on their way.

Rats!

This dead rat was found at the entrance to the restaurant on May 26.

The cat that had been a resident behind the restaurant for many years has disappeared, and is rumored to have been trapped and eliminated.

A new style of bromadiolone poison bait box has been in use in this area.

The Blue Herons

The baby Blue heron that was the size of a chicken last month is the size of a turkey in the third week of May.

The Doves

The doves successfully fledged out their two chicks in April, and are starting a second nest in this lamp.

Fuel Spill

A diesel fuel spill is a routine source of consternation at the marina. In the early morning on May 30 there was diesel fuel everywhere on the water. There was no indication that it came from anywhere in the marina. By the time the US Coast Guard arrived at eight AM it had mostly dissipated.

The coot seems to be not bothered by the fuel, and none of it sticks to his feathers. Other spills of sewage, cooking oil, and lube oil stick to his feathers and give him a "bathtub ring" around his middle. In that case, he can easily get it off with his beak, shaking his head to discard the residue.

otherfish.wmv shows these fish splashing in the morning.

The image at the right was taken during one of these events. It may have been the cause of the fish splashing, as it approached from the edge of the school of smaller fish. It was a dark colored animal, similar in size to a harbor seal. A closer look makes it appear more like a fish, perhaps of the tuna family. There are bonito in the marina this time of year, but never so large.

In the past, a dozen birds could survive over the winter by finding food and moisture in the vegetation planted around the marina yacht basin many years ago. Three different species of succulent survived with little water and no maintenance, growing from the sidewalk to the saltwater. Everyone looked forward to the blue and yellow flowers that would bloom every year in February and March.

Paradise.wmv shows two coots feeding here the day before the last of these plants were removed and the earth sprayed with herbicide on November 29, 2008.

The Tripod

Every photographer needs a tripod, but nobody wants one. Most people do without one, but if you want to get started in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography or do any kind of movies or video, a tripod is a must.

After trying several, you may find one that is convenient to use and carry. However, there is a major engineering contradiction in every tripod. Anything that moves must be light weight and easy to carry. Anything that must stay still should be strong and heavy. The camera needs both for use in the field.

As a compromise, you can select a lightweight tripod that has horizontal braces like the one shown at the right. In the case where it is required, heavy weights can be added to the leg braces.

Stitch up a few canvas bags of heavy cotton duck and add lead shot as required for your purposes. When you sew the end opening shut, you won't be able to get the bag full. Leaving the bags half empty allows them to be draped over the tripod braces.

How you carry bags of lead around is another problem. If you usually carry a daypack with your equipment, you could make a hook to hang that under your tripod for some extra weight, instead of the shotbags.

The osprey shaped sign appeared at Chula Vista Bayfront Park last year. It describes these birds and tells their natural history.

In fact, the previously existing osprey nest site on Marina Parkway was destroyed by Port of San Diego demolition of the old Rohr parking lot after 2005.

The osprey have moved to another spot just north of their original location on Marina Parkway. Since then, no new osprey chicks have been seen or heard (they are very loud).

The osprey successfully produced two chicks in this nest on Marina Parkway in the spring of 2005.

This nest was attempted by the osprey in 2007. It was located on a utility pole at the northeast end of Bayside park by the Marine Group boatyard. It was destroyed, persumably, by the winter storms.

This nest was started by the osprey in 2008. It is located just north of the nest that was removed by the port in 2005. This and another nest nearby are currently in use.

No chicks have been seen at this site.

Big Picture:

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Black Crowned Night Herons are common, but rarely come into the marina. The juveniles maintain a constant expression of astonishment as everything is new to them.

Index:

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Coot Misinformation

Bibliography of Research

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Opinion