This gallery contains 3 photos. Killdeer are beautiful, slim shorebirds that I’ve long envied other photographers for being able to get close to. It’s not that I haven’t seen them before. I have seen them engaging in courtship and mating rituals, and in flight–but from so far, far away that even a spotting scope or super long lens (neither of which I have) wouldn’t be able to do them justice. That all changed on July 7. This is the male, who on two separate occasions took the skies and circled around us. We thought nothing of this, as we had seen this flight behaviour before. See more examples of the Weekly WordPress Challenge: Beneath Your Feet here.
why so close to us? is that a look of invitation from this “postage-stamp” bird?
f/8, 1/800, 150-500 mm telephoto lens, 500 mm, ISO 400
This is the female. No dimorphism here–she looks like a twin to her mate. At first, I couldn’t figure out why she kept walking away and turning her back on us, while keeping her head and eyes trained on us. I thought, “She must be awfully comfortable with us to do this.”
she’s playing the broken wing card. we just haven’t figured it out yet.
f/8, 1/800, 150-500 mm telephoto lens, 500 mm, ISO 320
After a few minutes, we had our epiphany. She was playing the broken wing card oh so very subtly, and trying to take us away from a scrape that held her four beautiful speckled eggs. She had built her nest close to the walking path–so close, as a matter of fact, that if we were less observant, we may have even walked into it without knowing. Luckily for her, that did not happen. It puzzled me why Killdeer make their nests out in the open; it makes the unhatched so vulnerable, and a Bald Eagle–a typical Killdeer predator–actually flew overhead during an unguarded moment.
the mother-to-be sits down to keep her precious clutch safe and warm.
f/8, 1/800, 150-500 mm telephoto lens, 500 mm, ISO 400
Killdeer are migratory, monogamous shorebirds named for the piercing, onomatopoeic calls that they make. Their diet includes insects and crustaceans. We saw no fewer than six of these, including this breeding pair. Killdeer eggs can take up to almost a month to hatch. I hope these little babies-to-be have started their new lives!
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What a wonderful bird !
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I’m glad to not just see two Killdeer up close, but the nest and eggs as well. it was a very special experience!!
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I believe you. Thank you for sharing with us !
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Bellissimo post, con tante informazioni e foto stupende.
Complimenti.
Saluti, Patrizia
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grazie, Patrizia!
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Grazie a te per tutte queste meraviglie che condividi con noi 🙂
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thank you very much, Patrizia. I am very glad to be able to share my experiences with the natural world! 🙂
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😀
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Love the photographs. Love your observations and information. I’m not much of a birder, but I appreciate nature.
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thank you, Marlene! happy to discover a fellow nature lover! 🙂
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Love the orange eye ring!
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it certainly is “eye-catching”, isn’t it? 😉
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what a beautiful bird- and so interesting about her nest. Thank you!
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Killdeer have fascinated me for such a long time, and I was sure I would never have the opportunity to meet them up close. I was rewarded on that day — in spades!
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AWESOME photos! I especially love that last one where you can see the eggs so clearly. 🙂 We have them all over the place here. I was telling another blogger friend that once while we were heading into town, we saw a pair walking around a busy (well, busy for a town of 80,000 people) intersection. And, isn’t it just crazy they make their nests out in the open on bare ground? We’d almost stepped on a nest ourselves. Wacky birds, but they are adorable.
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thank you, Teresa! crazy is right … I always fear for ground-nesting birds like these. I’ve read that Killdeer will even nest on lawns! this experience has taught me to watch my step (and watch where I step!) 🙂
I’ve always considered Killdeer to be very beautiful birds. now my next bird to find will be the Semipalmated Plover! (“mini Killdeer”!) 🙂
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That would be very cool! I get all the Plovers mixed up (same with sparrow), so I rely on my son and husband to ID them for me. :}
Killdeer have nested in some of our neighbors’ fields before, but not ours…might too a bit too wooded around our place. 🙂
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I wish I had your problem with ID’ing Plovers! 🙂
for bird ID issues, I rely on Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology website allaboutbirds.org. it’s helped me on many an occasion!
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I have the Audubon Birds app on my phone and usually both the Kaufman and Nat Geo bird guides in the car but sometimes, it’s hard to even know where to start with birds that look so similar. 😀
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I know what you mean … don’t even get me started with shorebirds and gulls! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Yes!! You totally understand! 😀
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oh yes. I have literally spent hours deciding between greater and lesser yellowlegs, and greater dowitchers and lesser dowitchers!!
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My son has nailed the yellowlegs…not sure about the dowitchers yet though. 🙂
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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A lovely post with a nice story. At first glance I thought it was a tall Ringed plover, but then again they are both of the Plover family! If they are like our ringed, they nest on the ground because there is less competition with other birds here and (until relatively recently) there were less ground predators, I think mostly of rats and cats here. Or it could be so that the chicks who are mobile soon after hatching don’t have to jump out of a tree! Just speculating though.
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I like your speculations! 🙂 other than the roving Bald Eagles, there aren’t that many predators in that particular area. it is, however, somewhat popular with birders, bikers, and walkers.
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It is a wonder to sometimes question why birds to nest where they do. Here we often have birds liking army sites, few disturbance events, but when there are events they go off with a bang.
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wow, army sites!
my two cents — I think that the choices creatures make are guided by the elements that they see underneath our manmade devices.
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I think it’s because the army site here generally end up being heath-land that doesn’t get developed. I think I would have to agree with you, they will chose what they think is best as long as it is there for them.
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What a wonderful encounter! Killdeer can be very coy at leading predators away from their nests. Lovely photos and report. Take care.
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thank you! they were coy indeed, until they realized that we represented no threat to them, and the mother returned to sit on her eggs.
of course, having a long lens helps us to get close without really having to get close! 🙂
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Beautiful captures. These birds are so interesting to watch.
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thank you, Pat! their plumage is so beautiful and striking! 🙂
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The colors of birds are so fascinating. You captured them well in these pictures.
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thank you, Wanda! it was a special experience to stumble upon them! (although not literally!) 🙂
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The red eye ring! Spectacular.
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indeed! that particular feature seems to be getting rave reviews! 🙂
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Beautiful photos :-). I’m so glad you got an opportunity to see some Killdeer up close and a nest too! I’ve seen a handful, but not super close and no nest. I did get to feel some of the excitement when I saw your photos and read your story though. Thanks.
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thank you, Myriam! glad you enjoyed my post!
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How lovely.
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thank you! my third nest sighting of the year! 🙂
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These little birds are so adorable. I love their antics and funny sounds. You captured some beautiful photos.
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thank you, Merry Hearts! they certainly were fun to watch! 🙂
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Gorgeous! And interesting story to go with the photos. I love their eyes 🙂
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thank you, Takami! it’s their big eyes that make them so adorable. 🙂
have a great day!
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Beautiful photos of a beautiful bird. I’d never heard of this one before, obviously not native to UK, but you seem to have such an abundance of wonderful birds around you. Lovely.
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many thanks, Chris! the UK has a lovely diversity of birds that we don’t see in the New World. I hope I have the opportunity to see them too some day!
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Wonderful photos 🙂
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thank you, Elle! 🙂
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It is a beautiful bird.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Have a nice day.
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thank you, Hervé!
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You area a keen observer of these subtle behaviors! What an incredible treat to have the opportunity to see those beautiful speckled eggs.
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thank you! it was definitely a special experience!! 🙂
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Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories with your great pictures. Growing up on the farm, killdeers were so much a part of my life, and now I haven;t seen one in years. Too many people. Too much progress. And in this area we lost these wonderful birds. Again, thank you.
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thank you, Don.
I agree with you. it is a sad reality that human progress has been the direct cause of the alarming declines of many a bird species.
I’m glad my post brought back special moments for you, even if now they are bittersweet recollections.
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These are wonderful images of a very sweet looking bird!
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thank you, Judy! I’m so glad I finally had the opportunity to see the parents-to-be as well as the nest and eggs!
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Fantastic!!! Such a special sighting!
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it was. 🙂 never expected to come across a family in the making. I hope there will be more of the pitter patter of little feet in that area. 🙂
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Beautiful sweet little birds … and great photos! They look a lot like our Dottrells and kind of a cross with the hooded or red capped Plovers
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