All the kiddos were outside in the back yard playing after lunch on a beautiful Monday afternoon, enjoying a bit of fresh spring air when I noticed Josiah standing off alone and looking afar. After asking what it was he was doing, he pointed at two birds a few yards over in our neighbor's back yard. He motioned for me to walk with him so he could get a closer look.
We inched our way over and I immediately took note of the bird's strange behavior. Firstly, as we approached it I noticed it didn't fly away like most birds would have. Instead the bird made funny movements with its wings and talked very loudly at us. I instantly started thinking of ways I could help an injured bird, for surely that was the problem. The bird let us get very, very close. Close enough to realize it wasn't injured at all, it was just protecting something very important.
A nest with four speckled eggs! A nest, right there on the ground! What excitement this little bird brought to our routinely ordinary Monday afternoon.
The bird stopped talking at us when she realized we weren't there to hurt her or her eggs. She kindly let us all observe the wonder of nature before us. We were elated!
We kept watch over the birds and the nest all day, periodically taking peeks here and there. There were quite a few times when the bird wasn't around which gave us a chance to get a prolonged look at those beautiful speckled eggs. However, without the landmark the bird provided it made for quite the game of seek-and-find. The eggs are camouflaged so well!
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It wasn't until later in the evening that I remembered Isaac reading a story earlier in the school-year about a certain bird who made its nest on the ground. After locating and reviewing the story, I was fascinated to find the bird illustrated was identical to the one in our (neighbor's) backyard; a killdeer. (Wow, God is so good!)
The story, "Tricked By a Bird", gave us very interesting information about how these types of birds lay their eggs in little divots on the ground, often on gravel. Their speckled eggs blend in so marvelously to the background. It really is quite a sight! The title of the story gives hint to the notion that the birds trick humans or potential predators (which I can attest to). Killdeer birds put on a show as you approach, acting as if they are injured by walking around dragging one or both wings on the ground. They hope to take advantage of our pity by luring us away from its nest. Once the bird feels we're far enough away, it takes off leaving you with no clue as to where its eggs are or that there are even any. In our case, the bird never lead us away but was definitely putting on a show making me think it was injured and telling us not to come near. Fascinating!
We were surprised to discover that day two of our killdeer experience held just as much, if not more excitement for us than day one. After reading the kids some Internet research about killdeer birds, specifically how long it takes for their eggs to hatch (26-28 days), we headed out for our first observation of the day. As we approached the nest we witness a crow flying away with one of the killdeer eggs in its beak. (Cue the dramatics and the heartache) We were too late to stop it from happening but not late enough to miss watching it land on our neighbor's rooftop to devour its breakfast. We could actually see the yolk of the egg running down the shingles as the crow walked along side of it trying to peck up as much as possible. Oh, the heartache!
After our second morning playing of seek-and-find we located the nest and discovered there were only two little speckled eggs left. We assumed that very crow (or another one) must have snatched the other one up, too.
Sadly it wasn't long at all before there was only one egg left. There were quite a lot of emotions surfacing in all of us. I myself was about ready to cry. As much as I wanted to shout "THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSE TO HAPPEN" (ha!), I summoned self-control and didn't. We were all so saddened for the mommy and daddy bird. I honestly couldn't help feeling like the crow had robbed us of our chance to witness the miracle of life right in our very own (neighbor's) backyard.
I felt a strange responsibility to the kind killdeer and wanted to do everything I could to save the last little egg so I made a few calls to local park rangers and even called the National Wildlife Commission. Turns out, other than scaring the crows away or placing something over the egg to obstruct the crow's view, there was nothing we could do. (Apparently it is illegal to touch a bird's nest.)
After sharing the information I gathered with the kids and embracing the truth that nothing in nature is ever wasted, I guided them to stumbling upon the idea of blocking the crow's view of the egg. Their first instincts insisted on building some sort of structure similar to a house or tent over it but they soon came to the conclusion that a patio chair would work just as well. We sat back and watched until mommy bird came to be sure the chair wasn't going to keep her from visiting her nest and caring for her egg. It was a pleasant sight to watch her slowly approach and readjust her nest of one. It is now day 9 of our exciting adventure and the egg is still safe.
Bird watching...
There she is visiting her nest, underneath the chair, for the first time.
Alyana found one of the killdeer eggs in our yard, away from it's nest. After investigating the egg and using the knowledge we gained from our recent discoveries, we decided a crow must dropped it after taking it from the nest. Another round of heart break.
The kiddos have been journaling as a means of documenting our exciting observations along the way. We look forward to the conclusion of the situation whether it ends with a baby killdeer bird or not. Either way we value the knowledge and understanding we've gained and appreciate even having the chance to experience it at all.
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