Terror

A sea lion had been seen in the marina a few times early in April.

Before April 9, a dozen coots appeared for feeding every day. On this day only four birds were there, and they would not come near to eat. A few more appeared, but about ninety minutes later, Beaky was found outside the yacht basin paddling toward the other marina. He stopped to take a couple of crackers and kept going.

Beaky finally made it to the boat more than two hours late. He was nervous, ate quickly, and left.

For a coot, a dog means danger, and going in the water is safety.

There is nothing worse than a big dog that can travel in the water.

There has been no indication that a seal would eat a coot, but there have been hawk attacks on coots. The osprey have never been seen catching anything but fish.

Herbicide?

A small flock of coots stands at the edge of the water by the Chula Vista Bayside Park in the last week of March. The birds no longer climb up to feed on the grass. They seem to be "cornered" here at the far side of the marina yacht basin.

There are still some coots standing there in the second week of April. There is data indicating that some animals can taste the surfactant used in the herbicides, and the birds may find the grass inedible after spraying.

Coots are considered good eating game birds since they are "clean feeders"

The Ducks

Last September 23, twenty five of the fifty mallards at the marina disappeared in what a California Department of Fish and Game agent in San Diego called an "illegal take". Subsequent removal of vegetation and habitat restriction made it seem unlikely that any new clutches of eggs or chicks would be seen again in the spring.

The file photo at the right shows the surviving mallards huddled at the corner of Chula Vista Bayside Park the next day after the event. These terrified birds slowly wandered into the marina. Their loud squawking at night disturbed marina tenants, as they awoke missing their mates.

In spite of apparent efforts beginning last year to exterminate the mallards, two broods of chicks were seen here in April. Usually a dozen clutches of new ducklings hatch out in spring and summer every year. The chicks hatched latest in summer stand the best chance of survival. Otherwise, the vast majority of chicks starve off and are taken by predators or die of hypothermia from the cold nights.

These birds were at Chula Vista Bayside Park on April 17.

Another small brood of ducklings was sighted the next day in the marina on April 18. No ducklings were seen anywhere after this date. Usually the chicks die off, one every day or two, over a period of a few weeks. These birds disappeared suddenly, and were most likely taken by illegal means.

Both state and federal permits are required to posess wild birds, feathers or eggs. Anyone who sees such a case of animal harassment should call the Chula Vista Police at (619) 691-5151 and cite California Penal Code Section 597.

Travelers

By the middle of April, all the coots are gone, but new ones arrive. There are still coots here, but they are all different coots.

This male transient has just stopped for a few days for food and water, before moving on north. His distinctive facial appearance shows that he is new here.

People ask "when are these coots going to leave?" The answer is that they are already gone. They left from somewhere else last week. They fly at night, and stop for a few days to rest, before moving on.

This hungry male transient stays for several days in April. His frontal shield is nicely swollen as he begins his first breeding season.

Mr. Beaky threatens these new intruders and may attack them after he eats. These travelers know I will feed them, but they are afraid of me. As I stand over Beaky when he threatens them, they must think that I am there to enforce his territory.

It is fortunate that none of the male coots have tried to fight Beaky this winter. It has been very difficult to have all these intruders.

Marvin

Stupid Ugly Marvin is gone on April 11. This was his fifth winter here, making him six years old this summer.

He started as a small, skinny and stupidly agressive coot in his first winter. He was never in a relationship even though one small female tried a couple years ago. Although he has mellowed considerably in recent years, and is much calmer now, he remains wild and wary. Perhaps this is the reason for his longevity as an annual migrant. He no longer attacks other coots, but never joins a flock, and is always alone.

The Doves

About April 17, the doves were gone.

Two juvenile doves were seen in the area in the morning darkness before sunrise. They may have successfully fledged out of the nest.

The Gopher

The first sign of gophers is mounds of fine earth around trees and other shrubs. Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) or Valley pocket gopher is the most common gopher, but four other species may be encountered here.

This gopher was found in the parking lot at Chula Vista Bayside Park. It was slowly turning in a circle showing its teeth. Gopher schematic diagram shows the characteristics of this animal. First thought of the reason for this animal's behavior was that it may have been poisoned.

The idea that the gopher may have been poisoned came from complaints about the Bromadiolone bait boxes that may have caused the death of the squirrels in the park in March of 2008. No bait boxes were near the gopher, but this box was found at the far end of the fence in Bayside Park. It appeared to have been broken open and did not seem to have been touched for some time. American Pest Control was notified at the telephone number on the label shown in this picture.

This American crow may have been thinking of preparing a meal with the gopher. But the crow went away.

The next day, the bait box is still there, apparently untouched, with the open seam showing.

More Herbicide

There is continued evidence of random herbicide spraying around the yacht basins of both marinas.

The Swallows

There are fewer swallows this year and they started later in the spring. The warm weather in the third week of April hatched out some flies. These little birds will soon have plenty of insects to eat.

A Sailors' Tattoo of a swallow indicates a 5000 nautical mile voyage. A second swallow indicates 10,000 miles (the return trip).

Spring Food

After the other birds are gone on migration, Beaky seems to become depressed, and slowly paddles around the docks as if searching for his lost companions. However, on closer observation in recent years, he is picking some tiny food items off the weather side of the docks.

With years of experience he is able to find food in the marina that is unknown to other coots

When large amounts of eelgrass were blown in to the yacht basin, he began the same sort of behavior. He may be picking tiny white colored specks, but it is impossible to prove. He does not share.

The Last Coot

On April 25 three migratory coots are here. One is the insatiable male,and the other two are a male and female pair. On April 26 only the female remains with Beaky. This is very unusual since females are almost always gone by the end of March, and there are seldom many females here at all.

Beaky and the female begin dabbling and bowing to each other as male and female coots do.

Then Beaky bites her and frightens her away.

She is gone the next day.

The Blue Herons

The herons at Chula Vista Bayfront Park by the boat ramp have a baby the size of a chicken.

heron_nest.wmv shows the herons and chick, and gives an idea of the sound. The meaning and source of these noises is unexplained.

The adult bird on the right may be the male, with the chick in front of him, holding up a wing on the edge of the nest.

Hard Times

At the end of the month, Beaky Coot preens while socializing with the ducks. The ducks threaten him, steal his food, throw his dish in the bay, and make a mess; but he has little choice for companionship.

The birds are on a plastic "bottom liner" that is filled with fresh water and chlorine to prevent marine growth on the boat. Birds are able to take a bath and drink some fresh water.

fish1.wmv The fish strikes at a cracker

fish2.wmv This is a bit easier to see

The image at the right is a frame from the second movie. The fish is coming up from the lower right to take the cracker.

A coot and the fish had a nose-to-beak confrontation over a cracker. They both backed away leaving the cracker. This may indicate that the fish is aware of the bird as another similar creature.

This is an easy one, but people still don't get it. A marine biologist from Scripps giving a presentation at UCSD, said he thought someone was poaching his research animals. He soon realized that every population here is in a constant state of decline in numbers. The cause is loss of contiguous habitat. These animals evolved to live in two hundred miles of southern California wetlands all connected in one piece. Now, there are only a few small isolated natural areas. This creates genetic problems when all your local breeding stock is brothers and sisters.

There is no natural population or habitat in southern California wetlands. Look around; everything is covered with rock, concrete, and asphalt surrounding deep dredged bays. The condition is irreversible because the natural habitat of two hundred years ago is gone. All the people here now are not going away. It's over.

This unexplained extermination program with signs, herbicide, nest removal, and poison bait has been conducted at the Port parks for at least the past year.

Big Picture:

Click on the image to view it full size. Use your browser's Back button to return.

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