All posts by ruthsoaper

Baby Killdeer 3.0

Birds, Killdeer, Reflections, The Farm

I’d been checking the garden killdeer nest daily, knowing that the eggs should be hatching soon. On Wednesday morning we still had four eggs and a parent nearby warning me not to get close. On Thursday morning around 8:30, when we arrived at the farm there was a lot of killdeer noise.

As I waked toward the nest I saw two killdeers fly off. I also saw two parents in the area screeching and doing their broken wing act, trying to lure me away from their new family. While it may look like only three babies in the above photo #4 is there behind the others.

It was about an hour and a half later when my husband called me back to the garden area and told me to bring my camera. Four baby killdeers were running around. (I only managed to get three in the above photo.) Our first thought was that these were the babies that hatched last week but when we checked the garden nest it was empty.

(Here are two I could get by zooming in.) We were amazed at how quickly these babies were up and about. Nature truly is astounding!

Thanks for visiting!

Monthly Inspiration

Gardening, Inspiration, Reflections

Hello and Welcome. WOW! July is upon us and already the year is half over. Today I’m sharing some inspiration for our gardening season.

“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all, it teaches entire trust.” – Gertrude Jekyll

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.” – Rudyard Kipling

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” – Liberty Hyde Bailey

“Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.” – Unknown

“The Earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Cicero

Thanks for visiting and Happy July!

The Killdeer Chicks are Hatching

Birds, Killdeer, Nature, Reflections, The Farm

As of 5:30 PM today, June 28, two of the four killdeer eggs, from the nest that is in our driveway, had hatched.

This one somehow managed to get out of the nest. I thought it was injured or dead,

but my husband picked it up and put it back in the nest.

Like chickens, ducks and geese, killdeer chicks hatch covered in a fluffy down and will be up walking/running around within hours after hatching.

The unhappy parents were both nearby screeching and doing the broken wing act as my husband and I checked out their new family members.

We are very happy to see these little ones arrive so we can reclaim that section of our driveway.

It should be about another week when the next brood hatches. Stay tuned. 🙂

Thanks for visiting.