Birding at the Pump-house Trail, Part 2

The next day, Eve and I were back at the "Pump-house Trail" (aka Sorrento Valley Ponds) in Del Mar.  It took a lot of looking and waiting to see a White-faced Ibis again but there were plenty of other birds to see in the ponds. The highlight of the morning was when I saw two "ducks in a row". It's a play on the word "row" but the "fight" was quite intense for a few minutes. Glad I had a chance to take a few shots. 

After quite a bit of searching, we spotted an Ibis near camera range. Here are a few shots from the pond closest to the pump-house. 

This one is foraging in the mud for prey.

I get a nice pose.

One last shot of the Ibis showing his beautiful back and the multi-metallic colored feathers.

We saw two Pied-billed Grebes. Hoping that they are a breeding pair and that we will be able to spot some youngsters this year.

The handsome Cinnamon Teal swims calmly by. 

Notice his mate is also near.

Eve spots a Common Gallinule in full breeding plumage with the bright red face shield. He swims past a pair of Gadwall ducks. The male is the one with the black bill.

The air is filled with alarm as several Killdeers fly around in a panic. This one lands near us. 

 Even the Black-crowned Night Heron pops out of the reeds. 

Now we see the reason for the distress. There is a raptor on the far telephone pole and he has made a kill. 

A pair of Blue-winged Teal swims into the main pond. 

 The Blue-wing is in alert mode. 

 

He is a gorgeous duck with a distinctive white crescent marking on his face. Only the male has this marking. The females look much like a female Mallard with a black bill. 

The Cinnamon Teal comes swimming over to the Blue-wing in a threatening posture. 

The Cinnamon makes the first aggressive body contact. Chomping the Blue on the face. 

A vocal attack and more biting. 

Body slams and wings spread out.

The Cinnamon is using his body to shield himself from the Blue's beak. 

 

 The Blue gets his snaps in. Both are vocal and wings are stretched for quick maneuvering.

Both appear to be wanting to be the top duck in this little pond.

The Blue defends and counter attacks.

 They appear evenly matched at this point. 

Blue-winged Teal, Anas discors measures 15.5 inches long with a wingspan of 23 inches. 

Cinnamon Teal, Anas cyanoptera measures 16 inches long with a wingspan of 22 inches. Both are in full breeding plumage and have been swimming with their mates. 

Wings up and battle goes on. 

 They swim in tight circles. Always watching each other's moves.

Their movement is almost mirror-like. 

Looks like a even match. Both still full of fight. 

Like two boxers in a ring, they both look for the weak spot for the next place of attack. 

The Blue makes the move and goes for the hindquarters. The Cinnamon looks surprised.

Lots of splashing and turbulence in the water as the two ducks duke it out. 

Both getting a breath as the water spray settles down from above. 

The Cinnamon is not letting it go... he comes in for another attack. 

 

Slams into the Blue. But wait, the Blue has moral support from his mate. She has come into the combat zone. 

The Blue's mate gives him inspiration to get more aggressive with the Cinnamon. He is now on the attack. 

The female Blue stands her ground in the middle of the fray, almost as a distraction to the male Cinnamon. He appears to lose his focus as the Blue gains ground. 

The Blue and the Cinnamon making quite a splash. 

It appears that the Cinnamon is pinned between the female Blue and the male to his front. He appears to be losing steam. 

One huge move by the Blue towards the Cinnamon and everything is covered in whitewater!

 It is as if the Blue is daring the Cinnamon to go ahead and try anything because he is going to do more damage unless he backs down. 

The Cinnamon refuses to back down. The Blue goes and makes another strike. Notice the female Blue standing by her man (lol, duck)

The attack on the Cinnamon looks pretty brutal. Lots of turbulence in the water around the drakes. Wings are splayed every which way. 

The Blue shows his dominance as he pounces on top of the Cinnamon. 

 

Finally, the Cinnamon appears to have had enough and swims off... 

As the Cinnamon swims past the female Blue, she snaps at him as to say "and keep on moving!"

The agony of defeat! He dunks himself as if to shake off the humiliation and cool off his battle wounds. 

Pushes himself up and shows he is still the beautiful Cinnamon drake and life is great in this beautiful pond. 

The female Cinnamon swims over to her drake and gives him assurance that he is pretty awesome in her eyes. 

 Ooops.. but they better keep swimming because the Blue feels the Cinnamons are still too close for comfort. 

The top duck is very pleased with himself. 

A victory display of his wings and all is calm again at the pump-house trail pond.

The Cinnamon was also observed relaxing and soon both Blue and Cinnamon Teal pairs were resting on a small mud island. All is well at the Pump-house Trail pond. Time for us to head for home. Sure love this trail. We will be back here soon. 

Have a good week everyone!