Subject: [Tweeters] Killdeer Fluffballs
Date: Apr 5 12:41:21 2008
From: Carol Riddell - cariddell at earthlink.net


Last night I had to navigate my way from Edmonds to Bellevue during
rush hour, in the rain. So I took back roads and avoided the
interstates. As we drove south on 100th Ave. N.E. in Kirkland,
approaching Juanita Bay from the north, I noticed a new wine bar that
had been reviewed a week ago in a Seattle newspaper. Review was
favorable to I told my sister we had to stop for dinner after we had
completed our errand. We did. As we parked about two blocks away
from the restaurant we were near a fenced in area (NE 120th Pl. and
97th Ave. NE) that will probably become a gentrified building at some
point. Right now it is grass, weeds, and puddles--some of decent
size. As I got out of the car, I noticed a swirl of baby down going
in every direction around an adult Killdeer who was approaching one
of the larger puddles. I urged my sister to get out and come around
to see these baby Killdeers. I turned away for a second and when I
turned back they had disappeared. Mom Killdeer continued to stand
quite still but the babies were simply gone. Well, now having some
decent understanding of how nature uses camouflage to protect
wildlife, I scanned the field much more closely. I couldn't see them
anywhere in the vicinity of Mom. Then, in a burst of energy, all
shot out from under Mom, like four bullets in rapid fire. The little
fluffballs swirled around again, seemingly enjoying a moment of
frolic. Mom moved a few feet further away from us and then the
babies started swirling in closer to her. Think Vaux's Swifts
swirling above a chimney and then falling out of the swirl one by one
to descend into the chimney for a night's roost. One by one, the
four babies shot back under Mom and simply disappeared. As intensely
as we looked, we could not see eight little feet around Mom's two
bigger feet. What a joy! These were my first baby sighting of this
spring and the first time I had seen Killdeer babies. So next time
you tick off one Killdeer on an outing, look a little more closely to
see if there are any little feet hiding underneath. One bird might
become four or more.

Good birding,
Carol Riddell