Nesting Killdeer Birds and butterflies contribute their share to the gardening joys of summer. One of our interesting experiences this summer involved a killdeer family. The killdeer call is a familiar sound around our place as they attempt to draw attention away from the nest. My mother, who lives next door, believed there was a nest someplace in her gravel driveway. She was able to pinpoint the general area for me, and after about three minutes of searching amid the protesting of the parents, my eyes focused on a little nest of sparse grass nestled among the rocks and located in the middle of the driveway so cars would normally pass over it. Nestled there were four mottled eggs, very much resembling stones themselves. We marked the spot to insure against someone accidentally running over the nest; then we checked the nest regularly several times a day, hoping to see the little ones hatch. Several days passed, and one morning my mother came over to tell me there were little birds in the nest. These little ones leave the nest very soon after they hatch, and by the time I checked a couple of hours later, the young birds had already become mobile. The only thing left was the empty nest and the parents' loud shrieking to warn their offspring that danger was near. However, we had taken some pictures of the nest to share with our young grandchildren via e-mail. In the following thumbnail pictures (click to see a larger picture), see if you can spot the eggs! The locator stake helps!
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