May 15 and 19: Killdeer Eggs!

When you first look at this photo, you might not see the eggs.  But if you look at the next photo and then back at the first one, I think you'll see that there is a nest (actually just a scooped out shallow depression) in the woodchips with 3 speckled eggs.  They belong to mom and dad killdeer, who fly about noisily when you get within 30 feet or so of their nest.

When you get really close, they lay on the ground ten or twenty feet from their nest and  act injured....the old "broken wing, look at me trick," to distract you from the nest, as int he photo below.  I think if they'd just be quiet to begin with their nest would stay more hidden since it's so well camouflaged.

The first photos were taken on Sunday.  When I came back to look on Thursday, there were 4 eggs and the parents seemed even more protective--noisier, more "broken wings."

I just read that incubation is 24-26 days after the last egg is laid.   So that means June 9 at the earliest.  the chicks leave the next soon after hatching to begin feeding on their own.  I was glad to read that, because I was wondering how chicks in such an open nest could possibly survive.