For several years, we have had these interesting birds on our property. Last week we learn that they are endangered. There was a nesting pair at a nearby campground and it made the local news. We also found that they may sit on the nest for 40 days. Our nesting Killdeers had laid the eggs before Easter and the nest is smack in the middle of one of our campground sites. We put a metal sawbuck over it to keep vehicles off the nest. There is a motorhome just behind the nest. We advised everyone of the nesting family. If you come too close to the nest the father bird will try to get you to follow him away from the eggs. He will make a peep peep peep PEEP noise and pretend to be injured. If you get too close to the mother sitting on the nest, she will ruffle her feathers. She will stand up and get ready to try to trick you into following her away from the eggs. Notice that the eggs blend into the surrounding rocks. The babies hatched yesterday right in the midst of the All Star traffic. The mother kept her young under her. Look closely and you can see two of the four chicks just in front of her. Today she wisely moved them to a fenced in yard across the street, well away from any traffic. The chicks follow her around and have left the nest for good. The father stays close, if you approach he will run and loudly peep to get you away from the babies. A great site to check out more on these and other animals is www.enature.com. Yates Family Camping is a certified National Wildlife Habitat. All of our sites were resevered this weekend but we were not going to disturb the birds. Some last minute changes let us have enough room for the dedicated Killdeer and all of our guests! All four babies ( its hard to get them all in one photo) are well and happy.
