American Wigeons in the distance.It was a gray day but at least it was dry and not too cold. One of the birds that my parents wanted to see was the Bald Eagle. Since we didn't walk all the way to the nest sites at the golf course, we only caught glimpses of two of them flying over our heads.
One of the eight Great Blue Herons out in the marsh.Walking towards the Terra Nova Rural Area, my parents experienced the magnificent landing of the Snow Geese. Thousands perhaps?
And they came in two waves.
One of the birds that my mother enjoys of seeing is the Great Blue Heron. This one was standing on the road just a few metres away from us. It certainly had my mother excited.
Passing by the Terra Nova Community Garden, it was bare soil with little vegetation. But there were still several American Robins around looking for things to eat on the ground.
When we arrived at the "pond", a flock of American Wigeons took off flying. Leaving behind two strange looking birds. Giving them a second look, I realized they were Killdeers! Killdeer, Charadrius vociferu, is one of the most common and widespread plovers in North America because they are quite adaptable to human-modified habitats and not to live close to humans. One of the interesting things about Killdeer is their "broken-wing" act - a method used to lead predators away from nests, as experienced by Hugh of Rock Paper Lizard months ago.
My first sighting of Killdeers ever.There was also a group of Canada Geese. I saw them two days ago, but didn't bother to post pictures of them. Well, here they are today. One of them was quite cautious and continued to look at us until we were out of sight.
It's good that you are looking out for your family.
Saw these Mew Gulls (I think) as we were heading back to the car.Overall, a good birding day considering the number of people out by the dyke, and I still can't believe I saw Killdeers. Wow!
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3 comments:
So glad you got to see some Killdeers. I think they are such a hoot with their very worried little faces. Of the two nests I found and watched last year ... the crows got all the eggs. Darn crows!
I'm glad your parents got to see so many varieties on their walk yesterday. Herons are magnificent and I never get tired of seeing them either. If you drive out to the Chilliwack area ... on the vedder is the Heron Sanctuary and at this time of year you can see them start their nesting. If you check their web site
http://www.chilliwackblueheron.com/
you can follow what is happening in that particular colony. There are some good walks around that area as well.
i love killdeers! i used to work with them all summer and watch them grow up :D.
do you know why they're named killdeer? it's cause when they run away they yell "kill dee, kill dee" it's easy to recgonize once you've heard it once and you'll be able to tell they're nearby just by the call!
Thank you, Cicero Sings. I will persuade my mother to come and check it out!
Thanks for sharing the knowledge, shan-lin. You worked with them in animal hospitals before?
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