Monday, Mar. 1, 2010

Volume 9 Issue 3

On February 5, the new dock that was unmarked and pristine the previous morning, was covered with white colored splotches. Fortunately, there has been plenty of rain this winter to clean the dock.

There was a story of a huge number of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) that had been in the marina. One swollen looking example still remained. There are zillions of fish in the marina. They usually disappear after sunrise.

Ten years ago it would be rare to be able to see the tops of the concrete pilings on the docks without climbing up onto a boat's bridge. Now they often only extend a few feet above the docks. With global warming a fact of life, the winter tides are higher than ever.

Feeding Beaky Coot is difficult this month. It's usually easy to see when another bird comes to terrify Beaky, but it's not always certain which bird it is. The gulls are easy to see, but now another coot in addition to Marvin, has begun to attack Beaky. As with Marvin, this male is relentless in persisting to attack Beaky and persue him under the water. This male frequently bites all other coots that happen to get in his way. You often see coots with pulled feathers sticking out. However, he is also afraid of Marvin. The best food has been the worms since they can be thrown a short distance. Beaky will not come near enough to take food by hand.

Beaky has various hiding places (one shown below) where he seems to disappear when the other coots come near. He may be quite nearby, and will respond when called, but so may all the other coots.

Coots scuffle about for food, but some tolerate the pecking and feather pulling and would rather just eat. By the middle of the morning a few coots that would rather eat than fight can be seen with pulled out feathers.

Monday first arrived on Monday September 29, 2008 and was Beaky's winter companion that year. Because of all the coots in the marina this winter, things are different. Beaky has been defeated, and driven out of his territory and Monday is often found waiting at the boat or foraging with the wild coots. Monday remains patient, calm, and pristine while waiting for hand feeding and tolerates a little petting. Monday and Beaky are usually found together for morning feeding, so they may still be roosting together.

A faithful female mate would make a territorial male coot invincible in defending territory. However, Monday has always had the sort of personality that allows her to simply glide through life with little effort or conflict. At first I thought she had been somebody's pet, because she was so quick to understand things that would stump a wild coot. She simply has the ability to see how to get things done with little effort or confusion and move quietly along.

Even on the rare day when they don't flood the parking lot with water, the birds can often find a drink at the storm drains. But only if it is at low tide, otherwise this pipe will be covered by saltwater.

The herons must be thinking of nesting as the weather turns warm and sunny in February. There are three of these birds in this Aleppo pine tree.

One of the blue herons comes to catch fish as the wild coots are fed before sunrise. The coots' crumbs attract fish to the surface that attracts the heron.

The cormorants are showing no sign of becoming tame, but one has been seen to be "hopping into boats" this month.

Ice

The docks were first covered with ice on the morning of February 23 this year. In the past two winters, we had freezing weather starting in January, that created hazardous conditions. The ice on the docks is invisible and boat shoes don't help. In the picture below, the dock in the foreground of the picture is covered with invisible ice while the upper sections (with footprints) are covered with water from the morning dew.

In June of 2009, parts of this dock were coated by spraying with an unknown substance. It causes the water to bead and stand on the surface instead of spreading out to evaporate or soak in. The dock began to freeze at sunrise, about six AM, and continued to cool until the rising sun warmed the ice.

The house finch is Carpodacus mexicanus and is the most commonly seen small bird inside the marina. Often on and nesting in boats, it is frequently mistaken for a sparrow. This link to Wikipedia identifies and describes this little bird. HouseFinch.wav is a link to a wav file that plays the distinctive and musical call of this bird. The last five notes of this song are unique to the birds at the marina. The entire song plays twice in this recording. Birds from other parts of the city sing a different tune. These birds are now usually seen in pairs, searching around sailboats for any loose canvas that might make a hole for a nest.

One of the first signs of spring, is the application of weed killer to the Port of San Diego parks.

This picture shows the intelligent female who arrived with Monday on October 11 (left) and the smart male that follows her. The female was an extremely aggressive coot who joined Beaky and chased Monday out of her territory. Within a couple of days, the intelligent female had learned to stay away from Monday and Beaky. These coots were not considered a mated pair since they have showed no sign of bowing, nibbling, or other similar displays. However, they have quickly learned to stay south of the dock so that they can be fed every morning.

At the end of the month she has some yellow color developing on her upper mandible.

February Movie

Here is a movie showing the result of hand feeding a coot. Click on this link to see panic.wmv, (12 seconds long, 5 Megabytes) Birds often leap up to take food with little consideration of how they may land. They probably expect to fall into water. This young male also evades the horrific gull by diving. The gulls are fast and powerful and will eat an unlimited amount of food. This greatly complicates how smaller birds can be fed. Even after their mass extermination by the marina, a pair of mallards has also returned to challenge the coots.

(I don't make this stuff up department)

Port of SD OK’s Land Exchange The mayor is still trying to swap critical wetlands habitat for campaign contributions.

HINTS:

• Fact

Most mayors in office make income from campaign contributions by developers.
• Fact

The Port of San Diego board of comissioners are personally appointed by the mayors and answer to nobody else.
• Fact

The established policy in California government for the past fifty years has been to dredge out the wetlands and surround them with rock and concrete. There's no reason to think this will change.

Turning Trash Piles Into a Bird-Watcher’s Paradise Freshkills Park, a 2,200-acre park with meadows and wetlands

Complex Life of Marsh Birds: Coots Foil Nest Invaders, Reject Impostors coots have evolved a remarkable set of cognitive abilities to thwart other coots

National Bird-Feeding Month The National Bird-Feeding Society is proud to host and sponsor “National Bird-Feeding Month."

Is Feeding Ducks Bread Bad? More political dogma and misinformation

LA Animal Watch Los Angeles County is rounding up and killing feral and stray cats in unincorporated areas as a defense against “terrorist attack.”

ShelterTrak An independently operated project aimed at collecting and making available information related to animal control agencies and shelter operations in the State of California.

California, like many states, has no oversight or accountability by separate licensed agencies (i.e., state) to monitor animal control and public humane societies Reporting the truth about the various shelters in California whether it's good truth or bad truth

Zophobas morio ideal for raising at home to feed a collection of captive insectivores.

The seal hunt as a matter of morals The morality of killing thousands of juvenile grey seals as a cost-benefit analysis of animal exploitation.

Freakonomics Thinking beyond "common knowledge"

Conservationists Seek to End Lead Poisoning of Midway's Rare Sea Birds Environment News Service

American Coots Interim Report #59

Football First, Water Last According to Michael Novacek's book Terra the problem of worldwide desertification is one of the first threats to human life in the current climate change. Why does the mayor devote so much attention to a new football stadium and convention center, but ignore San Diego's dwindling water supply? I guess you haven't been reading the Coot News. . .

International Desalination Association The retired South Bay Power Plant would make a great spot for a desalination facility. A few miles of pipe would be required to obtain sea water from across the strand. The saline waste could be used to enrich the existing salt evaporation ponds of the South Bay Salt Works. Even with only one generator running, there would be plenty of power for even the least efficient process. Sure, it's expensive, but compared to no water. . .

California uses more than a quarter of the Colorado River's total volume Desalination may very well be California's answer to the drought in North America.

Feinstein seeks to ease curbs on water delivery to farmers legislation that for the next two years would loosen Endangered Species Act restrictions on pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

The Los Angeles Times NextEra's proposal to cut down hundreds of thirsty tamarisk trees may provide a blueprint for resolving similar environmental disputes: break out the chain saws, drain the aquifer.

Feinstein amendment is a water grab "Beware of the latest attempt at an old-fashioned water grab - the last gasp of an outdated approach to California's complex water problems."

Judge allows slowdown of pumps to protect smelt The big federal pumps that were cranked up over the weekend to send more Northern California water south will be turned down Thursday in the ongoing tug of war between water exports and fish protections.

Makers of Quorn, the Chicken-Flavored Fungus, Sued for Not Disclosing Dangerous Reactions "I felt like the soles of my feet were going to come out of my mouth, I was vomiting so hard"

The three-pronged assault on the family fishing fleet The troika that is wrecking the family fishing fleet is composed of government bureaucrats, environmentalists and economists.

Ban on felt-soled shoes intended to prevent spread of fish diseases Starting next season, felt-soled boots will be banned from Juneau waters

Oregon is first U.S. site for a wave-power farm The search for clean, renewable energy is turning toward the ocean, but not without some waves of skepticism.

Words Defining The Rock Dove By David Rose, Contributing Editor San Diego, California

Beaky, the Disabled Prospect Park Goose From the New York Times City Room

Dozens of birds turning up dead by Exit 11 in Clarksville "There are dead birds all over the road"

Birds Flock to Restored Wetlands Along Kissimmee River in Florida $620 million Kissimmee River restoration project

Big Picture: Click on the image to view it full size. Use your browser's Back button to return. Count all the cormorants.

(Hint: this is only the south half of one of two similar barges placed side by side. )

"Since earliest times birds have played
an important role in the lives of men. 
Some have provided him with food.  Others 
have added colour, song, and companionship 
to enhance the quality of his life.  Birds have
added immeasurably to man's knowledge of 
aerodynamics.  Without birds, life would 
indeed be poorer." 
– K. C. Lint

Index: Home Background Coot Food Recipe for Coot Pudding Coot Misinformation Bibliography of Research Coot Calls and Movies Historical Summary Links to Important Sites Opinion

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Marina Stress Factor

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