love these birds

i will try again to post multiple images. i don't know how the text and fotos will match up... so work with me.

the killdeer has become one of my favorite birds. often nesting in the fields before the crops have been planted, i have learned to work around them. a flash of orange at the last moment tells me to stop, locate the eggs and then cultivate around them. Tom, following with the planter, then does the same.

last year flooded fields forced a pair of killdeer to nest on higher ground - the lane leading to the house. the eggs were marked and protected by a bucket of cement. we drove around them every day, anxiously waiting for them to hatch. and then....

this is definitly NOT what i had in mind - but you gotta love these birds!!!