Killdeer

For the past month or so, we have had a nest in our driveway that two killdeer birds built.

They take turns sitting on the nest....

....and protecting their eggs!

Killdeer are very protective of their nests! Every time we have attempted to get close, the birds act like they are hurt. They start making all kinds of noise and they fan their feathers out so it looks like their wings are broken. Then when they think they have your attention, they move away from the nest so you will follow and leave the eggs alone! A couple of times the birds would get really aggressive and we thought they were going to attack!

On Sunday night, when I went to check the eggs, they had started to crack. I was so excited! If you look real close you can see the tiny holes at the top.

Well, the internet said that as soon as the feathers dry on the baby birds, they fly away. So, I thought for sure that I would miss it during the night. When Chris got up on Monday morning, he went out and said they were all gone. I was so sad! But when I went out about twenty minutes later, I found one baby left about 5 inches from the nest.

I was thrilled to see one still there! The bird was still really wet, so I figured I had some time. I went in the house and came back out around 20 minutes later and the bird was already gone! Dang it! Although, now, we can go out and look at the empty nest without being attacked by a momma and papa killdeer! It has been fun to watch them this summer and learn about them. I hope they come back next year! Even though Chris is okay with them gone.....he will finally be able to mow the weeds down where their nest was!