Mrs. K-Deer and Little K-Deer

I was surprised to see this small family down by the river. Mom was watching baby, and dad was watching me. Mom was squawking, but I didn't think it was for me. It wasn't. The little mink that I posted last week was making his rounds, and several birds were "greeting" him.

The killdeers usually make their nests out in the middle of a field. Not the brightest of birds...at least as far as home selection sites are concerned. I love it when one of the parents "limp" off, trying to draw you away from the nest. What I do is fake limp toward the nest...and yell at the parent..."YOU ARE A TERRIBLE ACTOR! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLING WITH THAT LIMP? WATCH ME! THIS IS A LIMP!"

When I was helping coach high school softball a couple years ago...we had a killdeer nest in left-center field. It was right up against the fence. It was funny meeting with the other teams coach and the umpires before the game to discuss the ground rules.

"Coach...can you tell your outfielders that we have a killdeers nest in left field? Tell them if they get too close...the mom will attack. Tell them to cover their eyes, because mom will go right for the eyes." It always put their fielders on edge...giving us an edge. Unfortunately...it didn't translate into wins.

Put it in LARGE for a better look at baby. On my flickr page is 2 more shots of the killdeer, and 2 shots of some new ducklings. Limp over there and take a look.

Have a great week.