The Rest of the Killdeer Story...

It was more than two weeks, closer to three and no babies! Mama was feeding a few feet away from her nest... and there almost invisible lay the two speckled eggs.

That night a storm came in, a whopping storm that created sheets of water running thru our site and the park. What about the Killdeer?

The next day as we walked by the Killdeer site... nothing! Only little tiny moraines of debris remained suggesting a lot of water had washed thru.

What about the eggs?

Mama and Papa were close by. She ran and sat, ran and sat. While he flew about vocalizing loudly working hard at distracting us.

We looked, but no sign of babies or eggs. I was sad. After all that fuss and care and they still didn't make it.
(Missed the first of the story?  Read about how business and nature can co-exist.)

We stopped by the office and wait! Ed had spotted the babies. Tiny little feathered bodies with long legs and so camouflaged he almost stepped on one. Somehow, eggs or babies made it thru the storm. Hallelujah!

- Photo by ram.rom82 at http://deafpagancrossroads.com/2008/05/06/i-brake-for-killdeer

(I didn't catch a photo myself)

Try as we might, we never did see the babies, but Mama and Papa still linger around the lake and somewhere in the brush two little Killdeer chicks wait till there wings are strong enough to take flight and start the cycle all over again.

Missed the first of the story?  Read about it here...

Bird Release Cruise...Wow!

"Just get dressed, grab your camera and get in the car."  That's all the information I got as I was drug off on my Mother's Day gift trip.  For month's my daughter had been telling me that she had this amazing trip planned but couldn't tell me just when it was going to be?!
It was finally here... what ever "it" was. 

It turned out to be one of the most spectacular experiences you can imagine!  A bird release cruise.

70 plus people, consisting of families, bird lovers, philanthropists, a journalist, the staff from Last Chance Forever in San Antonio, and two red tailed hawks boarded the river cruiser.

See some amazing bird close ups on our You Tube Channel

After traveling up river watching herons fishing, terns on logs, pelicans watching a fishing boat, egrets flying and even a young colt suckling from her mother on the shore we reached release point one.  The skipper turned the ship with tail end to a densely wooded shoreline and we all watched in anticipation as the juvenile Red Tailed Hawk was brought on top.

This young hawk was brought to the center with head injuries and a lame foot.  After weeks of tender care by Doctor Hill he was now fit as a fiddle and ready to live free once more. 

One lucky traveller was drawn to assist John from Last Chance to give the bird his final farewell boost as he left his hands and flew for the trees.  The crowd cheered and stood in awe at what had just happened.

See some amazing bird close ups on our You Tube Channel

As we started for the second release point John shared stories and answered questions.  Then it was time.  The second Red Tailed Hawk was brought up and a young nine year old girl was the delighted pick to help John bid this beauty her final goodbye.  This time the crowed cheered even more as the bird seemed to look back from her perch in the tree in thank you before she flew further into the trees.

What an adventure!  I will forever be changed by the experience of looking directly into the eyes of these birds who seemed to know they where whisked away from deaths door by people who cared and now where free once more.

Look into their eyes on our You Tube Channel.

From the tiny to the bigger...

Her hovering is what caught my eye.  There she stood in mid air checking out my bird feeding station.  In a flash she was gone and I dove for my sugar to cook up some nectar.  After waiting for it to cool I hung out the feeder and watched.  Within minutes there she was, cautious at first, then she moved in and drank deeply.
This little Black Chinned female is the only one that's been by so far over the past two days...

Then this morning while walking around the pond a movement down by the water's edge got my attention.  A heron?  He was just shaking his catch about... of course as I was out exercising I didn't have my camera with me as he posed perfectly in the morning sun reflection an all.  It was a Heron, a Green Heron.  Here is a photo I found on line.

Having almost missed seeing both of these beauties I can't help but wonder how much passes me by as I get so narrowed in on the "important" stuff of life!

Watch out they melt!

All that was left was a sloppy mess.  Fortunately I had placed the woodpecker suet cake in a Ziploc bag before slipping it into my bird seed container.  My bird feeding station is behind our rig so I can watch the birds as I sit working on my computer. 

The birdseed container is on a palate under the rig where the afternoon sun hits it... not good for suet cakes!  So if you store any suet cakes don't let the hot afternoon sun melt them.

What did I do with the slopping mess?  I literally poured in on two horizontal branches of the tree on our site.

Have a marvelous day birding.