ERYTHING U NEED FOR
s
Let Us Help With Your Planting Projects! Berries
Fruit Trees & Small Fruits Cold Crops Summer Vegetables Many kinds of Tomatoes! Strawberries Large Assortment of Herbs Soil Amendments
Porch & Deck
p
Hanging Baskets Mixed Containers Potting Materials Wide Selection of Annuals We can help you find the perfect plant combination!
Landscape Trees & Shrubs Perennials for Shade and Sun Annual Flowers
askets Hanging B
s
Variety of Unique Garden Art
2 LOCATIONS
985 Middle Tennessee Blvd. at the Co-op v 615-890-9990 1641 Compton Rd.
–&–
HOURS: MONDAY–FRIDAY 8AM–5PM v SATURDAY 8AM–4PM
TIME FOR
l
dC
ri
or
ti a
Cl
en
ea
ning
Re s i d
an
NATURE NEWS
om m
ercial
te Ex
Pressure Washing House Wash Roof Wash Concrete Cleaning Fence Cleaning Deck Cleaning Driveway Sealing
Tri-Star, Your Partners in the Clean Business
CALL OR TEXT!
615-295-6504
tristarpropertyservices.com don@tristarpropertyservices.com
Protective Killdeer Put on Oscar-Worthy Acting Performances to Distract Predators STORY AND PHOTOS BY ASHLEIGH NEWNES IT WAS AROUND this time of year, almost four years ago, when I met my first killdeer. I had walked by a nest of theirs that a friend had pointed out to me, and to my amazement, I got to watch their parental charade play out before my eyes. Like a well-rehearsed theatrical piece, one bird ran in one direction away from the nest, dropping to the ground, fluttering its wings, revealing its orange body and calling out as if it were hurt, while the other bird quietly ran a few steps, paused, then ran a few more, in the opposite direction. I wanted to immediately go and help the killdeer flapping around on the ground calling out for help. That’s when my friend told me, “See! It’s working. You are distracted from the nest.” Their acting had worked, I had moved away from their nest and their eggs were safe. This encounter made me fall in love with nature even more and that was the day the killdeer stole my heart. Unfortunately, killdeer nests are often found in dangerous places, like driveways, gravel parking lots or fields that are to be worked. That was the case for the couple I met all those years ago. They had created their nest in a field that was soon to be tilled. From then on, I vowed to protect those two and their eggs—my own little conservation project. In an attempt to prevent the tractor from running over the nest, I put metal garden row hoops over their nest in a criss-cross pattern. Every other day, I’d go out there to check on them, worrying that the tractor or 24 * APRIL 2022 * BOROPULSE.COM
predator had gotten them. In time, the pair got used to me, but they never allowed me to get too close to the nest without taking to the stage for their Oscar-worthy performance. They did, however, get comfortable enough to let me check the eggs from a respectful distance. As time went on, I started to worry that the eggs or the birds would get too hot out in a wide-open field in the blazing Tennessee sun. I did some research and learned that the adults take turns soaking their belly feathers to cool down their eggs. How do they get cuter every time I read about them? Every day I got more and more anxious that something wasn’t right. Why haven’t they hatched yet? Are the babies okay? They were way overdue from what I read online. I finally came to the conclusion that the eggs must not be fertilized. One scorching day, I dutifully headed out there to check on them and was stunned by three little fuzzy heads in the nest. They had hatched! The parents let me get close enough to the nest to photograph the babies, and shortly after, they started their performance. I like to think that they were letting me have my moment like a family member getting their turn to hold the newborn. The parents and babies only stuck around for a few days after that, but they come back to the same spot every year to lay their eggs. I have since moved on but I think about them every time I hear a distinctive killdeer call from the skies or a neighboring field, and it always brings a smile to my face.
