We're expecting!

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I didn't think I'd be sharing this news again, but you never know when it comes to nature..... For the past two years we had mom and dad Killdeer birds nesting in our front yard. Yes, they build their nest in dirt or even in gravel. They do not make nests up off the ground. A week ago my husband was mowing the front yard and there she was, mom Killdeer, warning him away from the nest. She doesn't like the noise of the tractor. He went out later when she was off the nest to discover 4 eggs. Yesterday he checked again and now there are 5 eggs. So I am proud to announce that we are expecting a family of 5 Killdeer babies. It should be about a month before they hatch and start 'running' around the yard. Mom doesn't feed the babies, they are off and running and searching for their own food from day one. Mom and dad very seldom leave them alone. They have their work cut out for them since the babies take off in all different directions at the same time. After watching them the last two years those little birds can cover our front yard in a very few minutes...they really move fast! So about a month from the the show will begin, until then we can't mow near the nest but that's OK. This won't be the end of it, she'll will lay more eggs. Last year I'm pretty sure she had three sets of babies over the summer. Photo is mine - that's 'my crazy bird' sitting on the nest.