A Mother's Love

The temperature has been all over the map around these parts. The warm weather forced flowers and trees to bloom earlier than usual. But plants weren't the only things that were fooled.
Our killdeer, that I've posted about a few times already, built their nest and laid 3 eggs. The nest, which is on the side of our driveway, is marked with rebar and landscape tape so the UPS guy, or anyone for that matter, doesn't run over it. It is impossible to see, if you don't know it's there.
Well, the weather has turned and we've had a few cold days with even colder nights. They were predicting 1/2" of snow for today and all I could think of was the killdeer nest. We've seen her sitting on the nest in pouring down rain in previous years, but the thought of seeing her sitting in the snow was a sight that I didn't want to see. I had visions of taking the cedar cat house and inverting it over her and the nest, but in reality I would never do that.
So far there has been no snow. This morning when I drove out the driveway, I saw her sitting there in the cold (20's), put the truck in reverse and ran in to get the camera. I stopped the truck next to her and took a few quick photos.
Nature amazes me constantly. This pair of killdeer come back every year. They build their nest in the driveway, no matter what is going on around here. They sit on the nest until the eggs hatch and then they're gone.
Until next time.....

Wordless Wednesday

Killdeer-est

Last week, while walking out to the mailbox, I heard a familiar sound. The call of a killdeer. And sure enough, they were back. "Building" a nest in our driveway. If you ever saw a killdeer nest, you'd know what I mean when I say building. They move a few pieces of gravel around and scratch a hole in the ground. Voila! A nest is made.
Today while going to get the mail, I heard one of the birds freaking out. Sure enough, I walked over to the nest and saw these two eggs. Now all we have to do is sit back (and worry) to see if the eggs hatch.
They come back every year and build their nest in our driveway. We count down the days until the eggs hatch, hoping that they don't get eaten by a number of local prey.
Here are a few posts, with pictures from previous nests, if you care to take a peak. They are quite cute.
Click here. And here. And here.
Wish us luck.
Until next time.....