neverspent | February 11: Killdeer (Reply)

Lots of dripping and sloshing today! And some black ice in the morning. More often than not we don't have to deal with that part of a snow; the snow falls, we enjoy it for one day and don't go anywhere, and during the next morning it all melts and is gone before the night comes along to perhaps freeze the melt water.

The roads are more than half passable, so people were out and about on them. While I was running some errands, I spotted a killdeer in what seemed like a rather odd place. (I imagine the bird thought nothing of it.)

Usually you see killdeer in open wastelands and short-grass areas, sometimes around a pond, sometimes not. They're plovers; they look like a bird you'd find on a beach, but they're ground nesters. They don't even really build a nest, they just lay their eggs on the ground and lure away predators by acting wounded. The bird I saw today was in the short, grassy slope between a large box-store strip mall parking lot and a major six lane avenue. Not much open ground! But enough, I suppose. I wasn't able to take a photograph, but here's one by someone else. Killdeer are very distinctive. I love their v-neck markings.