Saturday, May 29, 2010

Killdeer

In early May, I was lucky enough to see a Killdeer! John, the girls, and I went on a walk around our neighborhood, and we spotted a bird that we hadn't seen in this area before now. As we continued our walk, we discovered that one of the birds had a nest in one of the empty lots on our street! It was very exciting! I grabbed my camera and went looking for a picture. The birds became concerned and I started to hear the male and female "talking" to one another. I think they may have been trying to distract me or possibly were plotting an evil attack.

One of the birds started moving a little closer to what must have been her nest. As I moved closer, she started acting like she had broken her wing and hobbled in another direction. That's when I was certain I had spotted a Killdeer. I didn't look very much for the nest as I was sure the birds were very concerned at that point. I was just happy to have seen a new bird in our neighborhood!

I did manage to get a couple pictures: Left - bird feigning injury, and right - one of what I think is the bird sitting in her nest.


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Baby Mockingbird



This little guy got stuck in our cedar tree for several hours. His mom was not happy with me for getting so close! She made sure he was safe and fed during his time in the tree. He finally was brave enough to fly back to the nest behind our fence!

In other news, the baby bluebirds froze to death the last week in April during a cold snap. The mom and dad removed them from the nest, and I found them in the back yard the next morning. It was terribly sad. I'm hoping another pair will nest in the box soon.