The birds are pairing up
as crimson-chested finches
dance and sing upon the railing,
beak-to-beak foreplay,
wing feathers quivering
before making a home
as house-hunting quail
split from their covey
to explore the garden.
A flock of strutting blackbirds
gets acquainted
while combing the ground,
and the killdeer practice
hollowing nests
in the gravel drive
analyzing traffic
before settling down
to hatch four eggs.
drycrikjournal 
Wonderful poem
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Thank you, Heather, a month late. The killdeer chicks just hatched.
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Better late than never.
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They weren’t late, I was a month or so late posting the poem.
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Yes of course, thank you, I miss- spoke.
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The Killdeer female and her mate have been guarding, distracting intruders with the broken wing act, for the past 3 or 4 weeks. The nest is in the middle of our normal walkway, so we’ve had lots of action as we wait and watch for the hatching. Right now the chicks are confined to the nest, but when they get their legs, both male and female will feverishly try to keep them together before taking them down to the creek. Pretty good watching!
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That would be fainting to watch. I love birds and have watched a few hatch but have not had the pleasure of observing Killdeer during their nesting season.
Thank you for sharing!
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