The Killdeer is one of the birds that we see frequently since we moved across town, but had never seen before. Lydia has been hearing them in the morning as if they are close by, and the other day we found out why. It was very mild on Tuesday so we went walking around the yard after dinner to enjoy the pleasant evening. Lydia was the first to spot the killdeer doing a little April Fooling in the form of the hurt wing act. This bird commonly uses distraction displays to lure intruders away from its nest. Not that it has much of a 'nest'. The Killdeer lays its eggs on the open ground away from any vegetation or cover, so we were anxious to find the spot before it got stepped on inadvertently. Mr. and Mrs. Killdeer did a fine job of twittering and displaying while scuttling here and there and eventually leading us right to the egg, which nicely blends right in with the bare ground.
We set up some cones and sticks to mark the spot and hopefully keep it protected, so now we have Fort Killdeer. I don't know what the Missus thinks of her new decor, but she's stuck with it.
We don't see too much of the pair yet as she is not finished laying the eggs and hasn't started incubating them. The girls ran out several times on Wednesday to check for another egg, but all day they returned disappointed. Then in the evening I noticed both the male and female poking around in the 'fort'. They were pacing around together like a husband and wife, and I thought I bet she's laid an egg and she's showing it off to him, making him look at it. I imagined their chatter - Look dear! See what I did! Isn't it extraordinary?! And his proud reply - Splendid, splendid! Wonderful, Dear! Do it again! I sent the girls out to check and sure enough there was a new egg. She didn't lay one yesterday (too cold and rainy? not in the mood?) but she did today.
They're up to three!
