Saturday, April 5, 2014

This Week's Crops and Clips: Killdeer

These noisy and active plovers nest every spring along the edge of the gravel road that leads into our local wetland birding patch.

This adult posed on the pavement in the parking lot at Chapel Trail Nature Center in neighboring Pembroke Pines.

Killdeer 20131214

This pair was courting  along the shore of the lake in our wetland patch.

Killdeers courting 20110412

An interloper, on the left,  suddenly appeared and made a threat display by expanding the black band on his throat, but he was subsequently chased away.

Kildeer interloper 20110412

This pair was engaged in a courtship display in our Illinois front yard before the bulldozers came.

Killdeer courtship 20120601

As we walk past their nest sites, the Killdeers perform distraction displays to draw us away from the eggs or young.

Killdeer distraction display 20130524

Killdeer distraction display 2-20100409

I photographed this nest with eggs at the edge of a garden in Batavia, Illinois. There is the appearance of a nest structure, but the entire ground wa littered with similar dried vegetation.

Killdeer Eggs 20090512

Here are three of four chicks that hatched out along our gravel road.

Three Kildeer Chicks 20090416

This little Killdeer hatchling was different. His departure from the other three huddled together caught my attention and I stepped very carefully, knowing he would not likely be alone.

Killdeer Chick Backlit 20090416

This Mom is brooding her chicks.

KilldeerBroodingChicks

Killdeers are swift and graceful fliers.  Flight shots are challenging and those I have were mostly lucky shots.

Killdeer in flight 20120410

Killdeer in flight 20120404

Killdeer in flight 20120402

20 comments:

  1. HI Kenneth These are fantastic shots and it is lovely to see the eggs, then the chicks and how they defend their nest shots. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. i love these big-eyed beauties, and their sharp calls. the babies always look like striped cotton balls on toothpicks. :)

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  3. Such beautiful birds. Their big eyes make them look so sweet. Cute little chicks. Excellent captures Ken, and the in-flights are wonderful!

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  4. You have a great series of shots there Ken. From the eggs, through incubation, continuing courtship, hatching, the youngsters emerging and the trials and tribulations of the adults. A lesson in ornithology and a photographic record of the similar behaviour of the many members of the plover family.

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  5. Awesome shots of these beautiful birds. The eggs are very difficult to see on the ground. The chicks are so cute.

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  6. The chicks are adorable.

    Great post this week Kenneth!!

    PS...the other cavity nesting warbler is the Lucy's Warbler.

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  7. Incredible shots! Stunning Photos! :)

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  8. they are so sweet, especially the fluffy babies. When we used to be in Oregon in the Spring, the RV Park where we stay would have several places marked off because of a kildeer nest. I always appreciated the manager's caring that much!

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  9. Cracking set of pictures - managed to see some of these birds on my recent trip!

    Somehow I managed to get to one of your older posts as well!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  10. A great serie!
    New birds for me!

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  11. wonderful killdeer photos

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  12. Such cute little babies! Plovers have great nesting grounds but several are endangered because people encroach on their nesting sites. The Snowy is so small that you wonder how they aren't stepped on all the time. Luckily the Killdeer do well:)

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  13. The Killdeer is so sweet, love the chicks! Great post and photos.

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  14. Excellent post and shots. I always enjoy the Killdeer antics!

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  15. Wow, fantastic sighting and shots of their nest and chicks. These are wonderful views

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  16. Wonderful series of photos of the Kildeer family. Those chicks are so cute!

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  17. Love these shots, clear and well composed. The chicks of course are just adorable.

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  18. a really great post as I loved. Nice to see it all from destracting to chicks. :)

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