Welcome to the third entry in the “Baby Month” theme! Hopefully the title didn’t scare anyone off as it can be construed differently if the specifically placed apostrophe is interpreted incorrectly. If you made it to this point, you are good to go, no fear, there are adorables on the way … in just a bit. First the traditional banter to bring you up on the world of Intrigued.
The ankle is progressing, a bit slower than I expected/wanted, but as long we are getting closer to being back on the ultra circuit, I’ll stick with the program. I was actually released from the brace during yesterday’s therapy session. It was mainly being used as additional stability during the more intense exercises, but all the work during the sessions and more importantly, the religious commitment to the home workouts (minimally 3 times a day), it is ready to go solo! Still trying to be smart about it, keeping mindful on uneven ground and watching like a hawk for any crazy old ladies at the grocery story so they don’t ram me with their carts – it’s a thing folks, so much that it was one of the first things the surgeon warned me about after surgery…and you thought the only grey hair danger was on the road ha. Told my therapist that all the work on their basketball court (side shifts, braid walking, ladder hopscotch and lateral ladder steps, etc.) are bringing back a flood of memories from my grade school basketball practices – thank god no suicides or flutter kicking yet ‘cuz that crap sucked hehehe.
No on to the topic that soothes the heart – wildlife babies!
If you like those adorable fuzzy bird fledglings, hit the jump for an extra helping.
Back to that specifically placed apostrophe. The bird fanatics out there may have already figured it out but let me provide you with a really good clue and that is “Mommy”.
In case you do not recognize this species, it is an adult Killdeer. Although we are currently it the midst of the Deer hunt season, this bird was not named for its prowess behind a bow and arrow..or shotgun. Nope, it just happens to have a call that sounds exactly like a high pitched “Kill-Deer“. Clearly a counter to the Chik-Fil-A Cow’s devious attempts to get people to “Eat Mor Chikin“.
This particular specimen happens to be the proud parent of two adorable chicks.
With the exception of the first shot in this series, all the rest of the images are a mixture of solo shots. Although I tried my best, these two chicks refused to get close enough so I could get them in the same frame. Clearly excited to be exploring their new world, the two offspring were running around like someone lit their fuzzy tails on fire. They both look identical to me, so I have no idea which is which.
I also do not know how old these new specimens are as they can leave the nest as soon as their feathers dry. Killdeer have a typical clutch size of 4-6 eggs with up to 1 to 3 broods a year (according to Cornell). In my many years in the field, I have never seen a family of more than 2 Killdeer chicks, which would imply a rather poor fledging percentage. Now, that is just my observation, maybe you have seen larger families and that would make me feel better – let me know in the comments if you have experienced that.
I’ll mention a possible cause for this later in the post. For now let’s congratulate Mommy and Daddy in getting two fuzzballs nearer to adulthood – especially in this particular habitat.
This family was spotted at the Sediment Basin and Trash Removal area which is on the left side of Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville, Florida. Personally, I think Sweetwater can do a better job of advertising their incredible offering, but here is a link to their main site (link here) and probably more helpful, to their pdf which has more background on how this place was built along with a map (link here). Basically, water is sourced from an urban creek and filtrated/cleaned to improve the downward waterways and wetlands of the Sweetwater Branch. The garbage and “gunk” that makes its way to the urban channel gets collected here so it doesn’t propagate onward. This line in the PDF cracked me up, “The sediment basin captures sand and debris, like logs, shopping carts and tires, which are carried by Sweetwater Branch during storm events.” What kinds of storms do they have in Gainesville!?!.
These chicks didn’t seem to care about the trash and the mom was incredibly accommodating as her children ran from one shiny object to the next – kids will be kids. Unlike the Killdeers, I was very conscious of the trash as I was having to fight to get decent shots of the chicks while keep the trash out of the frame. We are skilled in Photoshop here at Intrigued, but we try our best to always bring you “true” shots.
There is one definite advantage to hanging out in this particular area and it wouldn’t be too surprising if the mother knew this. Note, I do not want to overplay the general intelligence of Killdeer as I will get to some questionable decisions in just a bit. I’ve covered this in many of my previous posts involving Sweetwater (for example the last post), Sweetwater has a tremendous number of Alligators (link here). For the most part, those are found in the larger ponds and swamps that are fed by this inlet. I did not see any Gators in the area where the chicks were playing – planned or luck is best left for academic debate.
The downside to this area is the pedestrian access sits maybe 15 to 20 feet above the inlet. There are concrete side walls that help channel the water – and shopping carts apparently. This means you are going to be shooting down at your subjects which isn’t as impactful as being able to get down to their level. I am doing a bit of slight of hand here and shooting back from the forebay area to get you lower – the blessing of big glass.
I truly enjoyed watching these two chicks get comfortable with their lanky legs and new surroundings. The siblings really didn’t interact directly with each other, and as mentioned earlier, rarely got within 2 or 3 feet of each other. Just as interesting was watching how the mom handled the situation – she simply stood back and let them explore and would calling from time to time bringing the chicks back into protective range.
My general impression was she kept a further distance than a human parent would given the same level of dangers that lurked above and just beyond. In addition to the prehistoric reptiles, there were Cooper’s Hawks and Northern Harriers making continual scouting runs across the outer ponds and grassways.
Coming to the close here, time to elaborate on my comments above regarding survival rates and questionable decisions by breeding Killdeers. Nesting Killdeers will create mere “scrapes” in the rocks/dirt to lay their eggs in. Cornell notes that they tend to make several scrapes in the area in a possible attempt to “confuse predators”. Sounds logical, except time and time again I’ve seen them choose the scrape in the WORST possible place – like in the rocks in the middle of a walkway.
During my days in the grind I would drive out to our demonstration center for a meeting or to get a closer look at one of our products. They had a rock parking lot and inevitably there would be a Killdeer sitting out in the open on a nest somewhere within. Same thing happened on one of the paths at Sweetwater.
Fortunately, this was noticed by the volunteers at the park and they put caution tape and cones around the area. You can just see the dark spot in the middle of the intersection where the nesting bird above was sitting.
Thinking that putting your clutch in such a visible spot is not a recipe for high fledge rates. Sure, the fact their eggs blend in well with the rocks and the male’s “broken wing deception” technique can help, but there are plenty of smart actors in the animal world – why make it easier for them?
I’ll leave you to ponder that question, today I am just the messenger ha. Hope you enjoyed this latest entry in the Baby series. Take care everyone!
Life Intrigued 