July 5, 2008

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW --

I promised no more Kildeer photos, but Charity and Charlie would like for you to meet Chiclet.

Charity has been the lesser-celebrated of two Kildeer mothers that I've been watching for the last two weeks. We grieved together when she lost one of her two eggs, but she surprised me on Saturday morning with a very freshly-hatched baby.

I arrived at the nest around 8:00 am, a little later than I usually go out, but if I'd gone any earlier, I probably would have missed the whole thing. Chiclet was fresh, tiny and still soaking wet.

Just the day before, an ornithologist told me that these guys leave the nest as soon as they dry out, and could be gone in about an hour or so.

I stayed for three hours and not much happened, but I couldn't keep myself from coming back. In this photo, taken about 1:00 pm, Chiclet is about 5 hours old. He would walk around, take about five or six steps, fall down, and get up again, just like a people baby learning how to walk. TOO TOO CUTE but always going AWAY from the camera.

Both parents were very involved in his care, and even Grace and her mate popped in for a visit and to help babysit the first real nest outing.

By 6:00 pm, when I came back for my third visit of the day, the parents were still around and acting very protective, but I couldn't find the baby. There's a creek (fancy word for drainage ditch) and grassy area nearby, and they provided a much friendlier and safer environment for raising the baby than this caliche parking lot.

More photos from the day will go into the Kildeer gallery soon, but I have some other projects I have to finish today. It's true what they say about new babies. Once they're born, you just can't get anything else done.

Meanwhile, Grace waits. Based upon the date her fourth egg was laid, if my sources are correct, we won't see her babies before July 15.

July 5, 2008

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW --

I promised no more Kildeer photos, but Charity and Charlie would like for you to meet Chiclet.

Charity has been the lesser-celebrated of two Kildeer mothers that I've been watching for the last two weeks. We grieved together when she lost one of her two eggs, but she surprised me on Saturday morning with a very freshly-hatched baby.

I arrived at the nest around 8:00 am, a little later than I usually go out, but if I'd gone any earlier, I probably would have missed the whole thing. Chiclet was fresh, tiny and still soaking wet.

Just the day before, an ornithologist told me that these guys leave the nest as soon as they dry out, and could be gone in about an hour or so.

I stayed for three hours and not much happened, but I couldn't keep myself from coming back. In this photo, taken about 1:00 pm, Chiclet is about 5 hours old. He would walk around, take about five or six steps, fall down, and get up again, just like a people baby learning how to walk. TOO TOO CUTE but always going AWAY from the camera.

Both parents were very involved in his care, and even Grace and her mate popped in for a visit and to help babysit the first real nest outing.

By 6:00 pm, when I came back for my third visit of the day, the parents were still around and acting very protective, but I couldn't find the baby. There's a creek (fancy word for drainage ditch) and grassy area nearby, and they provided a much friendlier and safer environment for raising the baby than this caliche parking lot.

More photos from the day will go into the Kildeer gallery soon, but I have some other projects I have to finish today. It's true what they say about new babies. Once they're born, you just can't get anything else done.

Meanwhile, Grace waits. Based upon the date her fourth egg was laid, if my sources are correct, we won't see her babies before July 15.