Two coots remain here the second week in April, and appear to be mates. They are studying Beaky's old nest site.

Later in April it becomes clear that they are both males, and eventually the more feminine coot leaves the night of April 11.

Something had terrified all three of the coots that Sunday afternoon. Also, all the dock boxes had been opened (that were not locked) and found open Monday morning.

The remaining wild male stays for another week until leaving on April 20. He is nervous and shy, apparently affected by what had happened the previous week. He is keeping his head up and his eyes open.

Beaky, eventually unable to stand the stress, moves to the other side of the dock.

The flock of a dozen blackbirds that would visit every morning in March are gone in the first week of April. These birds come and go at different times of the year, but don't seem to be migratory.

Later in April, a male and female pair return daily for morning feeding. There were hopes that the tame male would be bringing his fledged juveniles back to feed in June.

After the second week of April, only the male returns, and is alone. It is clear that he has the progressive foot disease that makes the blackbirds' lives short and miserable.

After an absence of several days, the male blackbird returned on April 29. He appeared weak and sick, and his feet were quite painful. The picture at right shows the white crusty concretions that grow on the feet and legs of these birds.

Perhaps he was also cold and starving. The cold windy and rainy weather certainly makes his plight much worse.

Stupid Marvin disappeared the first week of April, and then appeared again after a few days. Then he was gone. Sometimes he just wanders away or simply becomes so much less aggressive that he is not noticeable. The picture shows his stupid yapping while coots are fed.

Beaky shifted his headquarters to the other side of the dock after the terror of April 11. He tried to stay for a while, but found a much more secure spot. He is sheltered from the cold northwesterly storms that continue to pound the marina, and has a good roof over his head. He remains roosting here through April.

He is fairly secure here and can preen himself, and put his head under his wing and get some sleep after a stormy night.

His left foot still bothers him a bit since it was injured in his losing battles with Marvin in December.

He leaves his roost early in the morning to patrol his old territory on the north side of the marina. This time of year he is harvesting some microscopic food from the weather sides of the docks.

The extermination of the mallards by the marina over the past two years has taken a severe toll on the number of new chicks this spring. These eleven ducklings hatched on April 8.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the marina intended to continue illegally exterminating ducks, but there is no evidence that they have been able to do this.

These three Ducklings survive on April 23. They were trapped in the marina and unable to climb out over the riprap. Unless they can get out of the bay somehow, they will die of dehydration and starvation.

When the newly hatched chicks were killed last spring, presumably, the hens were also taken. This lack of breeding hens ensures that there are plenty of males to fertilize eggs.

Dozens of snails struggle to cross Marina Parkway, all travelling toward the marina. They must cross four lanes of traffic with a wide center divider in the middle. Perhaps they can sense the moisture from the marina's irrigation sprinklers that flood the sidewalks and parking lots with water.

Many of them don't make it across. Every time you think you have a miserable life in the marina, somebody else has it worse.

This tiny bird has been here for three or four years, following the same routine every morning. There was doubt about its taxonomy since it appeared to be a spotted sandpiper, but never had spots until this spring.

The most destructive factor in ecology is not habitat loss, it's lying about it. In southern California, the wetlands habitat is gone, and it's not coming back. For some reason, people just don't get it.

A marine biologist from Scripps said he once thought someone was "poaching" his research animals from Mission Bay. He soon realized that every species is in a constant decline in numbers. Why? The problem is loss of a specific type of habitat, contiguous habitat. Two hundred years ago the California bight from Point Conception down into Mexico was all one piece of wetlands. Now there are just a few widely separated tiny patches of natural land left. You run into all sorts of biodiversity problems when your isolated breeding stock all become siblings.

Anybody can see this, just look out the window. Politicians and local governments take advantage of this debacle by spinning the story to their advantage. Nobody is doing anything to help the environment, but they certainly can make money from it.

"Ok, this is Tuesday, but where is everybody?" is an article by Bill Manson that documents the loss of 4235 acres of critical wetlands habitat sixty years ago. This is typical of what happened all over southern California in the previous century. And, so far there's no indication that this will change.

More unauthorized changes to tenants' rental agreements. . .

When they put this stuff in writing and display it to the general public, you just can't ignore it. Even with a newly hired cadre of marina police, they still don't know who their tenants are.

One unfriendly thing about San Diego is the lack of guest docks where a boater could tie up for an hour or two and patronize local stores, or get a meal. Putting tags on boats makes them tenants.

Maybe next month they'll make everybody wear different uniforms, depending on your tenant status.

The Double Standard

Establishing dozens of complicated and nonsensical rules as a form of governance, and creating special benefits for certain individuals by making them exempt from rules, is a common management technique. It is especially useful on government employees, penal institutions, or rental property where performance and productivity is not important. It ensures that a few subordinates will be loyal to management and help to police others. The main benefit to management is that individuals are always suspicious of each other, even to the point of hatred. This makes it unlikely that any sort of united and organized resistance or defense against management can be developed.

Signs like this are offensive, but the people who are offended don't matter.

Here is a movie showing how Beaky regains his territory early in April as the coots begin migration. Click on this link to see springfight.wmv, (20 seconds long, 8 Megabytes)

Beaky approaches from the right to attack and then turns to give a paired display as the enemy male moves far enough away. The enemy acknowledges and returns Beaky's display. (right)

Big Picture:

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The craneflies hatch out in April. They are a delight for insectivorous animals, but their larvae can ruin your lawn.

Crane fly From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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