Rex Trulove
It happened almost a decade ago. My uncle was mowing the ditch bank that runs along his long driveway, getting it ready so he could then re-gravel the entire driveway, which was also used by two other families. There were some large potholes that needed to be filled in.
In one specific area, a killdeer was going crazy by the time he got there. For those who don’t know what a killdeer is, it is a kind of bird, a plover, that is about the size of an American robin or thrush. They are ground-nesting birds and when predators get too close to the nest, the killdeer will act as if it is injured. It will make a lot of noise and will flop around, dragging a wing. This is an attempt to draw the predator away from the nest. They are surprisingly successful in protecting their nests in this way.
That behavior describes what the killdeer was doing. My uncle made two passes with the mower and both times that he got in the one area, the killdeer did its ‘injured bird’ routine. My uncle was sure that it had a nest somewhere in the area, so before laying any gravel, he took the time to take a slow walk down his driveway, looking for the nest. He had few hopes of finding it because killdeers and their nests blend in so well to the background; a trait that is fairly common for ground-nesting birds. Still, he wanted to at least try to find the nest. He did and this is the picture he took:
As you can see, the nest and the four eggs blended right in. It wasn’t at all obvious. What the picture doesn’t show is that the nest was right at the edge of the driveway. The rocks in the upper-right corner of the picture are part of the driveway. It was rather amazing that nobody had driven over the nest. For that matter, this was inches away from where he’d mowed and he could have easily driven his riding mower over the nest, too.
Finding the nest solved the mystery of the agitated killdeer. However, the nest was still in danger and it should be mentioned that the whole time my uncle was walking in the area and taking this picture, the killdeer was going berserk, understandably and for the third time.
The killdeer got riled up a fourth and final time, too. That is because my uncle walked back to his garage, found four long stakes and a hammer, then walked back and pounded the stakes into the ground at all four corners of the nest, allowing plenty of room for the killdeer to be able to get back on the nest to incubate her eggs. The stakes were to give at least some protection for the poorly selected nesting site.
Once the stakes were in place, he went to the neighbor’s houses and explained to them that they needed to avoid the staked out area beside the driveway. It all turned out successfully and the little agitated killdeer was able to hatch her eggs and then move the chicks to safer grounds.
these eggs are like mountain stones
Yes. I person can walk right past or over a nest with eggs without even knowing or noticing that it is there.
What a wonderful story. Those eggs were the color of the area.
Yes, they are. In the closeup picture, the eggs can be seen. If there were any pictures of the view from only a few yards away, they would be nearly impossible to see.
Your uncle also has my respect as I have, as of late, become a friend to the wild birds too. And I learned something today.
Shared.
I feel the same way about wild birds. That is why I built a bird feeder, for holding wild bird seed, and also hang hummingbird feeders in the front and back of the house.
Well, I still don’t have a house but I feed the birds every day. They teach me much about Human behavior.
But I also feed stray dogs and cats, because I remember hunger and last Christmas, my only friend was a little mouse who hung out with me in my spot as I lived under a bridge.
Out of gratitude, he ended up fat.
Yup, the critters are my friends.
That is inspiring. Thank you for sharing it!
I don’t know if a homeless guy is “inspiring” but, I’ll accept all the “feel goods” and kind remarks I can get, right now. 🙂
I really enjoyed this post about the killdeer.
It was a rather interesting adventure for my uncle. It is interesting, too, that despite the cars going up and down the driveway, nobody had noticed the killdeer nesting right there. It is a good indication of how well they blend in.
That is true since they remind me of chameleons.
Wao great Mr: Rex Trulove thanks for sharing
Great story with a happy ending to boot. Kudos to your uncle for taking the time to look for such a difficult nest to spot. Did he manage to expand his driveway? Did he ever see other nests of other killdeer birds?
He was able to re-gravel his driveway but didn’t expand it. That was the only killdeer he ever saw near the driveway. There are plenty of safer places for killdeers and other similar birds to nest. It is still a curiosity that any birds chose to nest that close to a well-traveled driveway.
I have seen this on Nat Geo but never in person. Nature is just amazing. Wow!
… and kuddos to your uncle for watching out!
I’ve been around killdeers almost my entire life, but I’ve never had the privilege of finding a nest. They are really hard to see.
Funny story Rex, I just posted about this very thing a few days ago. I finally got to witness this in person!! Too cool.
What a great story with a happy ending. Thank you for sharing this one.
I have to admit that I do admire my uncle for the extra effort he put forth to protect that nest. He certainly didn’t have to, but he wanted to.