The Kildees love to make their nest in our rock driveway. At least this time she put it in the middle out of the way of the tires. She layed four eggs. And I kept noticing they were dwindling one each day. Surely they haven't hatched this soon? Poor things, I thought a snake had discovered the nest. Then I see my dawg, Sassy Marie, at the nest. There went the last egg! It was her eating them! I gave her a good talking too about eating those poor little unborn birdies. Momma bird was REALLY upset! But, she made another nest and layed four more eggs. She was even more protective of them this time.... but alas, they started to dwindle again. I kept scolding Sassy Marie and telling to leave them alone. There was only one left again. This morning, as I stepped out the door to leave for work, what did I find on the front porch? Yep... the last Kildee egg! And it wasn't cracked or anything! I almost just picked it up, but thought that momma bird would reject it if it had my scent on it, so I got a paper towel and gently replaced it in the nest. There was Sassy Marie just looking at me. I scolder here again. But I thought to myself, well, at least she listened to me and didn't eat the poor little unborn birdie. That crazy dawg.
I sometimes wonder how birds like that survive. Obviously they do but perhaps in a different environment where there are no tires and dawgs. Does Sassy Marie's coat look shinier? Jerry
Tooty... she's a Black-coated Retriever... and she's so funny some times. She'll run around chasing birds that are FLYING above the tree tops. I think that she thinks she can catch one! Jerry... If someone took a recording or video of me standing there trying to explain to the Kildee about her poor choice of nesting locale.. they'd think I was totally nuts! I can't help it... I do talk to the birds, plants, etc. And as far as Sassy's coat... can't tell if it's shiny or not under all the mud she's been into lately. :-D Edited to add: And I did notice Momma bird sitting on the nest this afternoon! There's still hope that one of her eggs will hatch.
Killdeer are plentiful around here and seem to lay eggs in the same area every year. I had a pair with a nest in my zucchini patch one year and they got very angry when I wanted to garden. I put up a plastic owl when I spotted them in my garden this year and haven't seen them since!
