The Lake is Filling Up

The white pipes that helped drain some of the lake water, at the far side of the lake (closer to Haddon Hall subdivision - see far side of picture below) are now gone. The lake levels have now recovered about half of the ground that was exposed with the landscaping work done mostly on the lake side in this picture below.

No Geese on the Lake this Morning

Not a goose on the lake this morning, just a group of mallards by the Peakway Bridge, and a new mallard family of 7 little ones by the hillside bridge.

It was a gray day, but even gray days have their beauty. Normal if this were the British Isles or Washington State, but not so normal for the Carolina Blue skies of North Carolina.

A New Mallard Family

Another new mallard family - this one with 7 little ones.
Click on the images to see the full size detail.

Loners: A Goose and a Mallard

Water Rippling in the Breeze

Turtle

Geese Sleeping in Bunches

Afternoon Sun on the Lake

Straw was placed on either side of the path.


Looking out over the lake from the Peakway bridge, the water level is still low. All this was under water before the work began on the lake.




The townhomes shine brightly in the Western sunlight.

Ducklings in June

A new family of mallards.


Swimming among the Canadian Geese.

The Guard Goose

There's always at least one goose keeping an eye out for all the other geese while they are eating.

After the bird bath...

After the Rain

After the rain, clearing sky, water drops on the pine, and bright fresh leaves.

After the Rain, the Creeks Swell into Streams

This water comes from under the Apex Peakway into the lake.

Compare the volume of water below with the one on this earlier post from June 5th.




Below, this is water from the side of the lake with the townhomes.

After the Rain, Grooming... & Twisted Necks

The Kildeer: The Eggs are Gone

The morning of the 13th, Friday, the eggs were gone. No sign of anything, no egg shells, no markings in the dirt of a predator. Just gone. I heard the calls of one of the parents in the trees while I looked over the area, but they did not fly nearby.

These pictures were taken the afternoon of the 14th, after a torrential downpour at the site of the nest.




It was good to see the parents together by the waterside.
Maybe they'll nest again.

The Elevenses Family

As the dog and I approached, the Elevenses, the goose family with 11 goslings, made a bee line to the water.

Mother Bird Protecting Nest on the Ground

As I approached first, the mother bird stood her ground and "peeped" loudly. Then when I did not go away, I was most surprised at what happened next: she left her nest.




She walked 6 feet away and then again further, about 15 feet away from the nest, then did strange movements with her wings, almost as if acting wounded; seemed like she was trying to distract a potential predator (me) from the nest.

Below, the eggs, unattended.



As I turned and walked away, the mother walked back to the nest to resume her guard.

N8 of The DrinkingBird, a Chapel Hill, NC based blog, filled me in about this bird:

"Your bird is a Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, a common species of terrestrial plover. They're well known for nesting in highly-trafficked areas, when I was a kid we used to have a pair nest every year in our church's gravel parking lot. But vacant lots, gravel roofs, and stuff like that are all in play. They certainly don't seem to mind. They're also very loud if you haven't already noticed.

"The behavior you witnessed is exactly how you interpreted it. The bird will pretend to be injured to pull predators expecting an easy meal away from the nest. Then when they get a good distance away, the bird picks up and flies off. The reddish rump is supposed to give the impression of blood. All plovers do this but the Killdeer is especially well known for it.

"You'll probably see the young soon, they're cute little things. They look like gray cotton balls on toothpicks, and they're able to run around as soon as they hatch. The adults will pull the same stunt with the babies while the young huddle close to the ground."

Thank you N8!