Friday, April 13, 2012

Killdeer Jr.

By fun coincidence, there have been some excellent posts and photos of young Killdeer this last week in the bird Blog-o-sphere. I'd never seen the young before, and but from the pictures they looked pretty adorable. It was another case of birding synchronicity when I went to the Glendale Recharge Ponds on Friday evening and saw my first Killdeer chicks.


The ponds were pretty full and there was a lot of cloud cover. Even so, the bio-diversity was pretty poor. There were reports of Buffleheads and Curlews just the day before, but when I got there it was only Coots, Mallards, tons of Least Sandpipers, and a few Avocets, all of which stayed very far from the basin perimeters. It was a pretty disappointing outing until I headed back to the car, at which point the scurrying little puff balls caught my eye. 

They were running around in one of the few dry basins while their parents screeched encouragement/criticism. One of the chicks must have been a little bit sleepy, or maybe it was just in time-out. At any rate it decided to huddle down next to a rock, using the thick full tall green grass as  impenetrable protection.


It didn't seem like a very good spot to settle, especially while a potential predator (me) was watching. As Greg Gillson pointed out in his recent BirdingIsFun article, Killdeer do pick rather odd places to nest and rest at times. All the same, this little guy felt pretty comfortable, and soon closed his eyes.


I like the chicks much better than the parents. They're quiet.

14 comments:

  1. Cool shots of the little fuzz-ball! I feel like the last shot, wiped out from a hard week with students.

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    1. Thanks Jeremy. At least you made it to the weekend, and I'm glad to found a nice warm rock where you can fold up and snooze. As for tiring students...I can sympathize there too.
      Hope you fit some good birding into the restive weekend.

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    2. Sweet little guy! They used to nest in the meadow next door to my property. The grass didn't get too long and lots of cranberries grew there. But the owners decided they needed a extra mile long driveway..............sometimes people just do things because they can, whether they make sense or not.

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    3. That's a shame KaHolly. Driveways shouldn't drive away the birds. But I imagine the time you had with the Killdeer was great while it lasted.

      I'm still waiting to see a flock of Killdeer take down and devour a deer, thus finally living up to their namesake.

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  2. I adore these little fuzzballs!

    I saw some Killdeer yesterday in the process of ...ummm... starting some chicks!

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    1. Shocking! I hope to see prudently censored (not really) photos of this very soon : )

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    2. I'll see if I can't get the action posted soon!

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  3. What an amazing treat! These chicks are adorable!!

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    1. It was a great surprise; they're about as cute as can be. That said, one of my first thoughts when I saw them was, "Man, if I were a hawk, these little things would be a delicacy!"

      Is that weird?

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  4. Nice captures! Thank you so much for the tip off on the Red Phalorope and Red Neck. Both were in the ponds and a hit....better than any movie playing the movie theaters right now. The lot was full of birders. In fact, there was barely any spot to park as these superstars stole the show. After staring into this one particular pond, I finally found both of them. Hope you had a great Saturday!

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    1. Cheers Chris! I'm glad you found them. I'm pretty envious : )

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  5. Oh that baby is so sweet! It definitely looks like a mini killdeer. Glad no other predators got to him while you were there. =)

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    1. Indeed not. Perhaps now he'll have quite the reputation with his comrades, "The Killdeer who withstood the giant's approach and did not flinch."

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  6. Great series of images. And those legs on the little guys!

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