♥ Kildeer Babies ♥

Remember our mama kildeer sitting on her eggs in our driveway?   Bless her heart, she stuck with it through a BUNCH of rainy cold days.

Well, we managed to protect them from folks pulling in and out of our driveway, and we were watching them closely counting down the incubation days, so we wouldn't miss them.  I knew they wouldn't stay around long.  On exactly day 28, two babies made their debut into this world.  They chose the perfect day......a Wednesday..... because all my piano students were able to enjoy this lesson in nature with us!

Here they are not long after they were born.....being so still while being photographed by this intrusive human.

And within just hours later, they were strutting around the yard.

With their cute little legs carrying them as fast as they go, squawking the entire time and with enough instinct to get away from that lady with the camera, they hurried away in the opposite direction of me.  And then mama squawked a series of squawks to guide them back to her.

One was a little shy......choosing to try to hide from me.....

And the other one chose to high step it away from me....as quick as those little legs would go.  :)

They only stayed over night, and then they were off on their own new adventures.  :) 

What a nature lesson God provided for us! 


♥ Tammy ♥

 

♥ Kildeer Eggs ♥

I just love all the new life that comes with spring!  About a week and a half ago, when one of my piano students was leaving, she noticed a kildeer egg in our driveway, just a little off to the side of the main driving path.  Since then, I've noticed there is another one!  I tend to get a little excited over these things!  :)

I have to say thought that I've often thought that these birds aren't very smart.  They will lay their eggs right barely on the edge of the road, or in this case on our driveway.  It's so close to where we drive and where piano students pull in and park that we were worried those little eggs might not make it.   And see how well it blends into the rocks? 

Can you see them?

So, bless his heart, Jason put up a little blue flag out there to mark them so we could help mama kildeer protect her eggs.  I have already warned our mail delivery lady and she says we're not the only ones on her route marking kildeer eggs!    That made me smile!  :)

I may not think mama kildeer is very smart as far as where she chooses to lay her eggs, but she really is a good mama.

She doesn't like me coming around, getting that close to her babies. 

She's headed out to try to distract me.  Love those spindly legs!

She is mighty protective, squawking and playing out the broken wing scene for us time after time. 



Can you see here out there pretending to have a broken wing so I'll look at her instead of her babies?



We try not to linger very long around the eggs so she can get back to warming her eggs.  But I have a certain little 5 year old boy that is very curious about those eggs.  I have to watch him when we go outside because he is a little obsessed with them.

The incubation period is about 28 days or so, and we're not really sure how long the eggs have been there, but I'm thinking in the next week, or two anyway, we should have two kildeer babies.  Actually around here, we call them "kildees". 

I hope we're as blessed as we were about 4 years ago.  We watched  a mama kildeer (and the daddy on watch nearby) protect their eggs, and actually witnessed one of the babies making his debut into the world out of the egg.  And watched them struggle to stand on those long spindly wobbly legs.  It was a beautiful thing.  And believe me, that was a very protective mama.  She contorted herself into a very ugly creature to attempt to scare me away....she didn't like that camera near her babies one little bit! 

If you'd like, you can read that post, Don't Mess With My Babies, here.  It's quite a nature lesson, if you've never witnessed that before!

I'm hoping we get to see these babies....we're watching closely for any changes.  They don't stay in the nest long after they arrive.  If we are blessed enough again to get photos when they arrive, I'll be sure and share them with you.

Thanks so much for stopping by.................. and remember to take time to notice God's creations all around us.  I'm always amazed at the beauty and the details of each and every thing He created for us to enjoy.  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

Don't Mess With My Babies!!!!!

Do you remember the kildeer (we've always called them "kildee") eggs we found at the edge of our gravel driveway? (You can click on any of the pictures to view them a little closer).



We've been watching them diligently everyday. Since we weren't really sure how long Mama Kildeer and Daddy Kildeer have been sitting on the nest, we didn't want to miss the little ones' debut. The incubation period for the eggs is about 28-29 days. Mama Kildeer hasn't been real happy with me stopping by for my visits.



She immediately begins her squawkin' and fussin' at me....running off into the yard with her broken wing routine to distract me! She's so funny! Because I don't fall for it, she lies there even longer swinging that wing round and round as if saying, "Can't you see I have a broken wing here....come see"!







And then there's Daddy Kildeer overhead flying circles above us squawking and fussing at me to go away and leave his family alone! That's the way God made them to protect their family though, and they're doing a very good job at it! They're excellent parents....I can say that for them!

Friday evening, my dad (Pop) came over and told me that one of the four eggs had hatched and we had our first baby kildeer! With camera in hand, we immediately flocked to the nest. Isn't he (or she) cute?



Do you see the little beak hole in the egg beside him?



Mama and Daddy Kildeer were especially not happy with us then! Mama was scolding me!



Before we left to go out for dinner, the second baby arrived! See, she's still all wet!



Then there was a third one...



Mama must have gathered them all back together to snuggle...can you see all three? The next time I checked they were all scrunched up together snug and cozy!



And we were so blessed to actually be standing there when baby #4's little beak started breaking through first. And then little by little, she was pushing her way into the new world!



Meanwhile, Mama Kildeer was getting bolder. I guess she realized that this human was not giving up too easily. She was getting closer to me and really fussing! And then Daddy Kildeer was still flying overhead warning me to go away. After the above picture, we retired for the evening to let the parents tend to the babies. I was only hoping that the babies wouldn't be gone from the nest before we had a chance to see them, since it was overnight. They don't stay around very long!

The next morning by the time we got out there, one had already left the nest or was far enough away that he was well hidden in the grass somewhere. The others were still there. Mama was very protective on this day as if she sensed the most danger. She was becoming bolder.



First a warning....



Then she just became downright bold and approached me with this warning...."Don't mess with my babies!!!". Can you believe that sweet little bird above can make herself look like this??? Pretty impressive!



With that warning signal, I felt like she needed to be with them, so we did leave for awhile. When we did make it back out there, another baby was missing from the nest. The third one was walking around not far away. Can you see him? He blends in so well!



This baby became my model! He was so little and cute!



In this photo he seems to be saying, "Man, it's a big world out there"!



He wasn't fond of me following him around with the big black camera, but I did get a few more shots!



His long wiry legs were so wobbly! It was funny watching him walk, stumble, get up, flap his wings a little, then wobble along.



This left one more still lying in the nest. This one just wasn't ready to get up and try out her wobbly legs just yet. So, we went inside and waited. The next time, we went out there, they were all gone.....no trace of them anywhere. All fragments and pieces of the eggs were gone and the only evidence that there had ever been a family of kildeer there, was a little indention in the gravel where the eggs had laid.

I think they're off somewhere trying out their lanky wobbly legs and even having trial flights with close supervision from Mama and Daddy Kildeer. Then they'll be off on their own and maybe they'll decide to make their nest here one day and....... hopefully I'll have my camera ready! :)