Killdeer At Opechee

[Airedale1]

I spotted a pair of Killdeers today along the shore of Lake Opechee here in Laconia. As you can see the water level is so high that there is no delineation between the water and the land. I just hope their nesting area is okay.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/Airedale1/Killdeer31.jpg

[ApS]

Killdeer lay their camouflage-color eggs on the ground—right out in the open air. (No nest...no twigs...no moss...no feathers...no string...no grass...no pine needles...no nuthin'). :confused:

Two killdeer once were energetically playing their "broken wing" trick around me, which prompted me to carefully search for the "nest" eggs along a river bank. :look: After half an hour, they still had "broken wings", and my camera (which never snapped any pictures of Killdeer eggs :( ) had suddenly gotten very heavy. :rolleye2:

[Airedale1]

APS, you are mostly correct. Although, they do not build nests per se, they do prefer to lay their eggs on gravel or similar small stones. Killdeer hatchlings are precocial; meaning that very soon after hatching they are able to walk about and forage on their own.

Killdeer eggs
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/Airedale1/KilldeerEggs.jpg

If you approach a Killdeer and it does employ it's broken wing behavior, you can be sure you are near it's nest. Otherwise they will pretty much ignore your presence if you keep your distance.

Image of Killdeer sitting on eggs, taken from remote nest cam.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/Airedale1/killdeerNest.jpg

[Rattlesnake Gal]

While we are on the subject of Killdeer, Chickie related this very interesting incident of trying to save one in Chipmunks! thread. (http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6179&highlight=mink+chase)

I had a close encounter with either a mink or a weasel a few years back, which I’ve never forgotten. I don’t know which it was as they look so much alike. A killdeer had nested in my back yard and had four young chicks. If you are not familiar with killdeer, they nest on the open ground and the chicks hatch out with feathers fully grown and the ability to run about immediately. To protect them from predators, a mother will do what is described as the “broken wing act”. It will fly away from her young and lead the predator to believe it is injured by lying on the ground and flapping one wing as if it is broken. The predator perceives it to be an injured bird and easy prey, so the tactic diverts attention away from the chicks and towards the mother.

On this particular day, the killdeer was tending to her young when either a mink or weasel came out of the tall grass nearby. As any good killdeer mother would do, she flew from her chicks and landed some distance away on the lawn. She fell to her side with outstretched wing flapping and began the ruse. The mink sprang after her and was dangerously close to having a killdeer dinner. Hoping to avert a catastrophe, I started clapping my hands and shouting loudly, thinking it would turn tail and run off. On the contrary, it turned and started coming after ME! Never has this old girl run more swiftly than she did that day. The animal soon gave up chase and I reached my porch unscathed, vowing never again to challenge such a creature.

Makes me worried about Mac trying to catch the mink out at the island! :eek: