Killdeer

I love Edgewater Park in the morning. If you start from the lower parking lot and walk the bird trail, you pass through a sun-filled meadow full of songbirds. Today, a deer walked out into the grass and came right toward us! He was so close, I could see the fuzz on his antlers. I was hoping to get a shot of him with the city behind him, but he got spooked and disappeared into the trees.

Beyond the meadow, is a stand of trees. It’s dim and cool there and it’s always amazing to me that I can stand in the forest and glimpse the lake and the beach through the trees. Today, I spotted a woodpecker on the forest floor and I could hear a lot of bird activity in the trees, but the vegetation is so lush right now that it’s hard to get a clear view of the birds.

Chuck and I wandered down to the break wall and watched the gulls and the fishermen for awhile. I love how Chuck seems to smile when we’re on our adventures. She struck a good pose for me today! Finally, on our way back, we passed through another grassy area. I saw a bird on the ground and, at first, I thought it was a blue jay, but it kept running towards me and I realized it was a killdeer! I was so excited to see it. It was very busy in the grass and didn’t notice us at first. But once it did, it began scooting around and pretending to have a broken wing. Then, it would stop to look at us. Seeing we were still there, it would continue its show. I’m guessing it had a nest nearby and was trying to lure us away. I read a little about the killdeer and, apparently, they frequently nest near parking lots and other human development. So, keep an eye out for them!

Click on any image below to launch the gallery and view all images full size.