Alas, I have sad news to relate. Our Killdeer-To-Be are no more. I'm not sure how they could have gotten run over by a car, with the flag and the rocks, but I suppose it was possible... and I would prefer to think that, then that they were stepped on deliberately by a child. Marylee said she saw some boys out near the nest and asked them to leave, earlier.

We had a small moment of silence at the grave. Dustin and Brock were the buriers. Scott and Tessa gave short eulogies. The remainder of us were mourners, and all of us dripped. Very rainy day.

I read that killdeer often have two nests in a season, so I am pleased they can go start again - but I hope they don't do it in our gravel patch this time. :( No way I can keep them safe during convention, if they didn't even manage one big workday. The mother bird sat near where her nest had been and cried for a while and then she was gone - doubtless to build again. Lesson of the day: don't let one disaster keep you from ever trying again.

Ft. Killdeer

Killdeer Watch Day 6

Successfully survived marauding dogs and several days of torrential downpour.

I am rather impressed by mother's uncanny ability to choose one of the only spots that remained puddle-free after a very Pacific NW day and night and day and night of continual rainage.

The nest is between the rocks. I put them there in hopes of directing cars around it during workday. It's not right in the path of normal driving. If you enlarge the picture and look to the left, you can see the bird that was sitting on the nest, but is now running away, trying to draw my attention off.

I forgot - I promised a picture of my project when it got to the picture-taking stage. So here it is. Not finished yet, but as much as will be done before I give it to Mom. She'll pick what colors she wants for the border and stuff. The scissors at the top give an idea of size. And the colors aren't quite right. :(

Day Two of Killdeer Watch

I missed Day One, as you, my brilliant readers, may have picked up on. That was because Day One was yesterday and I was busy. And after I was busy, I was tired.

So. The Killdeer Saga, beginning yesterday, is as follows:

There is a wide expanse of gravel between the kitchen and the girl's dorm. Farm trucks and other vehicles drive across this gravel regularly. And this is the gravel in which a killdeer has decided to build a nest. I noticed it doing its broken-wing imitation as I walked across once; and looked around for the nest - they are astonishingly difficult to see, even when you're very close. So I walked away, and then waited until she (or he - they both sit on the nest, by turns) went back to it. Then I got a rock to put next to it, so I could direct traffic around.

I don't know when they were laid, but Google assures me that they will hatch in 24-28 days, so if they aren't stepped on or run over, they will be hatched before convention. This is good, because it's going to be difficult enough to keep her safe during workdays - during convention would be impossible. Also, she would die of sheer, exhausted panic, trying to lure so many people away. And the eggs would freeze. So all in all, it's good that they will hatch before that point.

I hope they will hatch before that point! Killdeer babies would be much cooler than broken eggs.

May 19, 2011

"I have not failed 10,000 times; I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work."

~attributed to Thomas Edison