Pat Kiewicz wrote:
songbird said:

usually they are hatched and gone before
i can get a picture of them. today i happened
to be lucky and got a few pictures of them
as they were hatching out. two of the four
were hatched when i first checked and then
i went back a while later and checked again
and the rest were hatched.

http://www.anthive.com/killdeer/killdeer.html

I imagine the parents the parents were doing that "OH!! LOOK OVER
HERE AT THE POOR CRUSHED BIRD!!" act while you were taking
the pictures. (I am always amazed at how "stepped on" they manage
to look.)

at times, but these birds were hatched and raised
here before so they are quite tame. at times i've
been a few feet away and the bird would sit on the
eggs and just look at me. not even make a peep or
flutter. as long as i didn't stop and look at them...
when i tried to get closeup pics with camera it was
never the way. then they'd flutter a bit, but if i
went over to the other side of one garden and sat
down they'd eventually let up and go back to tending
the eggs.

the day before the eggs hatched we had four people
digging up plants a few feet from the eggs and the
bird just stood there and peeped at us.

each year when they come back and make a nest and
lay eggs i try to spend some time just sitting and
watching so they get used to me being there. it helps
keep the noise and fluttering to a minimum. i was
tempted when they were hatching to imprint the young
but then i realized i really wasn't daddy material...

still i hope to see them running around shortly.
when the weather breaks and i can get some more
planting done.


songbird