Killdeer egg and chickie in front of the house
When we moved out to our little home on the hill and lined the edge of the road with medium river rock I didn’t expect that one of my favorite birds from childhood would move in with us. I remember walking the grassy hills on our cattle farm west of Bazaar, Kansas. The sounds of those hills still draw me and find their way into my most pleasant dreams. One of my favorite memories is watching and listening for the clownish and plucky antics of the killdeers as they tried to lure you away from their nests and protect their babies. It always amazed me that a “shore bird” finds its way to the Flint Hills every year. It always made my father smile as he would point out one of them feigning a broken wing. But in the sea of grasses I never could find a nest on those hills. I only knew they were around because of that protective performance dance. Now, in front of our home where we walk past every day, the killdeers have chosen to lay their eggs for the past 3 years. Their eggs blend so completely into the rocks that even once we know where the nest is, it’s not easily found. There were four eggs in the nest this year and yesterday they began hatching. As you can see from this picture, as of this morning, there is one left to hatch. These precious little birds are born able to walk and the first two are hiding in the weeds across the road. One of the reasons for the big eggs is that when they hatch they are as mature as a two week old robin with feathers and healthy and coordinated enough to run away and hide and find food.
Babies are a hopeful sign of life and watching these killdeers each year is no exception for me. I hope they continue to feel safe and always lay their eggs in front of my home. It gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling. **sigh**
If you’d like to read more about these special birds, click on this link.