Teenage Birds of Oceanside, Part 2

Going back to Oceanside Harbor to see if I could find the Least Bittern nestlings for a "Part 2" of my observation of teen birds at the San Luis Rey River Mouth.

Arriving back at Oceanside at the San Luis Rey River Mouth early next morning before it got too hot and sunny. Birding from the N Pacific St bridge that connects the Oceanside Harbor area with the south side of the river, a big green beetle buzzes over my head and out of nowhere a brown flash appears and captures it in flight. It is a Great-tailed Grackle! Looks like a female. She has perfected the beetle capturing technique. She lands right on the bridge railing for me to watch her capture and kill her metallic-colored prey. 

The slippery beetle escapes momentary but the Grackle is ready to retrieve it, never losing sight of the prey. 

 

Off she goes after the flying beetle. 

Got it! Great-tailed Grackle, female Quiscalus Mexicanus measures 15 inches long. Males are larger measuring 18 inches with an extremely long tail. The wingspan is 19 inches for a female and the larger all-black male has a wingspan of 23 inches. 

She attacks and pulls its legs off by holding onto the leg and shaking her head in a swiping motion to quickly detach the leg as a shorebird sometimes does to a crab with big pincers. Then she stabs and grabs the beetle with her pointed beak and flies off. 

Just below my observation area from the bridge, a couple of very young Pied-billed Grebes, still sporting the fuzzy downy feathers, are spotted as they peep in excitement as a parent surfaces with a nice sized crayfish. One grabs the crayfish as the adult watches every move of the youngster ready to assist if he loses his prey and to make sure he eats without any intruder coming to grab the youngster or his food. 

The nestling appears to be doing a good job of placing it tail curved up with the head sticking out to make for an easier swallowing of the huge Crayfish. 

Working hard at swallowing his prey. 

Down the hatch. 

Mom stands by ready to help but looks like he is doing a good job of consuming his prize. 

Good job! He sits quietly as if afraid to move, lol, it might come back up.

Checking the west side of the bridge, I spot a teenage Pied-billed Grebe hunting for fish. There is one just to the left of his beak. 

Got it! He is doing well fending for himself. Learning to hunt and survive. 

He is not alone, looks like he is swimming with a sibling. Both doing well and thriving. 

We get a chance to see what makes a grebe such an excellent diving bird. Look at those big feet. They are set back way back of his body which makes him an exceptional swimmer streamlined with powerful big lobed feet that propel him at a incredible speed when chasing fish underwater. On land, he is almost unable to walk and looks very clumsy when he tries to do so. The teen spots a fish in front. 

Here is a look at the fish right in front of the Grebe's beak. In a flash it is down the hatch of the teen bird. 

A good look at the remaining war-paint markings still on the cheeks of this youngster that identifies him as a teen bird. He may be one of the hatchlings that I photographed on 5-26-16 for the blog titled "Day of the Babies". 

As I walk back to the east side of the bridge, I spot the bird that I have been searching for, a Least Bittern! He flies under the bridge were I lose sight of him in the reeds of the southwest bank. Most likely, he has his nestling hidden there. The sun is hot and it's time for me to head for home. I have to come back early tomorrow to see if I can spot the youngsters.

I arrived back at 8:00am the next day at the west side of the bridge where I had spotted the adult Least Bittern flying to a large patch of reeds the day before. I position myself close to the reeds but not so close as to frighten the Bittern from approaching the reeds. I was delighted to spot the adult flying towards the reed clump. Here he comes.  He sees me but heads right to the clump of reeds on the southwest edge of the lagoon.

Looking cautious, he flies low and fast to the reeds. Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exillis measures 13 inches long with a wingspan of 17 inches. This adult appears to be a male. The female has no black coloring on the back. 

The male adult lands at the edge of the reed clump.

Moves slightly forward. 

 

Oh my goodness, I spot a Least Bittern nestling which appears to be in the "branching" stage and probably will be leaving the nest soon. In this photo, you can still see the pin feathers on his wings. He is coming out to get a feeding. 

Dad looks a little apprehensive at this enthusiastic approach of his offspring. 

Wow, this youngster is hungry and is letting dad know that he wants his meal now. 

Poor dad, he looks a little overwhelmed. The youngster has his dad's head in his beak. 

The nestling coaxes the adult to regurgitate. The adult is being patient and bringing up the food as he is attacked by his offspring. 

 

The nestling is relentless in his begging and coaxing. 

Here comes the food exchange. 

Twisting dad's head so he can receive its regurgitated meal. 

"Come on dad, hurry up and give me some food!"

Oh my goodness, here comes a second nestling to the dinner table. 

The first one is barely getting a meal, and the second one is hungry too. 

 

Food exchange. 

Down the hatch. The late arriving youngster looks upset that he isn't getting any food.

He squawks and lunges toward his parent still busy regurgitating a meal for the first youngster. 

 

The second nestling grabs dad around the neck. Probably around the crop area forcing him to give up more food. 

The first one is hogging the food and refuses to let go. 

Few more squawks for the hungry youngster. Dad breaks away form his rambunctious offsprings and departs. 

Wow, what a show that was! I get a flight shot of him leaving looking a little worn out. Lol, we all know what it's like to keep food around teens. No matter how much food you give them, they are always hungry.

The two nestlings watch dad fly away. They will soon be following him, flying to the hunting grounds

They appear to be fascinated with the activity around them. 

One spots something in front. 

They appear to be following something in the air. 

One stays and the other one decides to go further into the reeds for better protection. 

It looks like a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers flying into the lagoon. ( I call it a lagoon because the river mouth is stopped up by a huge mound of sand and will not be flowing until the winter storms force it open. )

Dowitchers, Limnodromus griseus measure 11 inches long with a wingspan of 19 inches. This photo shows the white upper rump and pale secondaries unique to Dowitchers. 

This could be one of the most dangerous of the birds here at the river mouth for the young fledglings. The Great Blue Heron will take anything that he can kill and swallow. Sometimes it will just kill it to see if he can swallow it. 

A Great Egret lands in front of a group of Cormorants. 

The male Least Bittern comes back to check on his off-springs. 

He sure keeps a low profile, barely clearing the ripples on the water's surface. 

What a beauty. 

The parent lands and within seconds a nestling shows up for a feeding. 

The youngster grabs dad's beak and coxes the regurgitation reflex. 

Food exchange. 

A quick feeding. 

In the youngster's enthusiasm to get fed, he sinks into the water but stretches his neck full length so as not to miss a single morsel. 

The youngster climbs back on the reeds as he still hangs on to his parent's beak getting fed. 

Enough food given to the youngster, the adult pulls away from the very demanding nestling. 

That's it for this feeding! The adult takes a second to compose.

Up go the wings and dad is ready to take off again. 

Scrambles on the reeds away from the demanding youngster. 

Off he goes back to the hunting grounds to refuel. It's time for me to go too and what a great experience it has been for me to be able to watch the beautiful Least Bittern youngsters being fed. It's been a great opportunity and special treat to be able to observe such wonderful parenting by these secretive birds. Wishing these little guys safe trip as they start their adventure into their new world. Stay safe little ones!

Have a beautiful week everyone!