Saturday, May 1, 2010

I saved a Killdeer chick today

I was on my way to the Amon Basin to take photographs when I saw a Killdeer in the street next to the curb. It had one wing draped over a chick that had fallen into the street and was cowering against the curb as cars whizzed past. The chick panicked, left it's mother's protecting wing, and wobbled along the curb on spindly legs. I made a U-turn, parked, and dodging cars, went across to rescue the chick. The mother bird began to cry out and flopped along the ground faking a broken wing. Suddenly the father bird swooped down and circled my head. I reached down and made a basket of my hands just in front of the running chick. It jumped right in and I scooped it up over the curb and into the prairie grass. I stepped back and watched as the mother herded her chick into the protective cover of a big sagebrush. I heard her saying, "I told you to stay out of the street!" Some chicks never learn.

2 comments:

  1. Cute! I've moved a chick out of harms way, once. He was such a cutie! They are so light and fluffy and don't make a fuss when you hold them. Only mine disappeared the next day and I haven't seen him and his brother and sister since. They were in a high-predator area and I just hope that the parents found a way to take him to safety and that I'll see him again when he can fly.

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