NO MOLLY! Don't Eat Those Eggs!!! ...
Come on Molly! You can’t eat those eggs, they need time to grow into baby birds. You wouldn’t want to eat baby birds would you? Anyhow I don’t think there’s enough egg there to even fill your little stomach.
Flashback..
In order to fully appreciate the story we have to flash back in time. Let me take you back a long long time ago... to Friday ha ha Ha. On Friday night we had our neighbors over for a campfire.
In the months pre-hand I had collected miscellaneous sticks that blew into the yard, so I didn’t have to mow over them. I piled them up near fireplace so they would be handy when I needed something to burn.
As you can see the fire is still smoldering from the night before. Well, I did throw a few remains of twigs in there. I took this photograph on Saturday.
All the twigs that I had placed there are gone because I had burnt them all. The only thing left were some larger logs that I didn’t get a chance to put on the fire, before we were too tired and called it a night.
The only reason I noticed something strange was because I was so close to the ground picking up the small remains of the twigs.
Something caught my eye near the wood pile.
At first I thought it was a strange round stone. But as I got closer I knew what it was. An egg! I found a total of three in my investigation of the area. I also found an area that looked like a nest had been built there, and it contained one feather. I gathered the eggs and put them back in the nest. I must have moved the eggs out of the nest when I was blindly gathering wood in the dark on Friday night. Shame on me!
Below is a closeup of the Egg..
I Found 3 In Total ..
Like I had mentioned, I gathered all three eggs and place them in what appeared to be a small ground nest underneath the large pile of logs.
I gathered up another pile of twigs from the rear of the yard, where an old tree has died and is dropping them. (What I really need to do is cut the stinking thing down) I then proceeded to place those twigs near the nest to help protect it. I really have no idea if the bird will be back.
What Kind Of Bird Is This?..
I googled ground nesting birds for my area, and only a handful actually came up. One of them being the Killdeer.
This is a noisy and fast little bird. I see them scurrying around the yard, but never really gave it much thought, that I would ever locate a nest. Well, I guess I can't say that again!
So How Does This Tie Back To Molly?? ..
Now the story thickens. On Sunday, I was out weeding the Strawberry patch, which is looking lovely. The majority of the first sets of flowers have developed into berries. Some of them are already transitioning to red. Not sure this is a good thing and it may be related to the lack of rain we have had. I ended up giving the patch a good dose of water that evening.
Here is my small Strawberry patch that yields more berries than we can eat. We end up giving most of them away.
Molly LOVES Strawberries.. And especially loves them when daddy feeds them to her right out of the patch. She happened to be outside with me today. She was busy cruising the yard, looking for shady spots to sit. The shade makes an ideal place for her to stare off towards the neighbors houses.
BUT! When she spotted me in the patch, she came flying over..
I wanted to get a few glamor shots, but in typical Molly fashion.. She refused to look at the camera. hehe
I continued my rooting around in the patch, pulling weeds, examining the berries, and ...
BAM! WHAT!!! What is THIS???!!!!
Yup, you guess right! Another Killdeer Nest :-) with 3 tiny eggs.
This one, unlike the other one near the wood pile, was made of grass. The more I researched the Killdeer bird habits, the more I realized that they are not the most consistent of birds. They will make their nest out of almost anything and sometimes even nothing at all.
And Who Is By My Side ..
Through all of this excitement? Molly of course! and she is patiently waiting on one of those berry treats that will never come (unfortunately).
Here come those puppy dog eyes!
"I'm Sorry Ms Molly.. I would love to give you a tasty sweet treat, but all that is here are just a few tiny eggs. I can't in my right mind give you any of those. I'm sorry baby girl."
"You really didn't want any of those Killdeer eggs anyhow, did you?"
Oh Molly! Bad Puppy!!!
It just wouldn't be right to eat those. They will be baby Killdeer sometime soon. They deserve to live and not be your next snack! Hahaha.. I am just kidding. About Molly actually being interested in them. If anything, she would probably run away if I pulled them out of that nest and showed her. She is expecting a strawberry.. NOT eggs. I can guarantee that to you. The eggs are safe from doggie tummy.
Before I commenced my watering of the berry patch, I was able to capture a few more cute shots of Molly sitting in the grass.. Most likely still waiting on a berry treat.
An Unfortunate Ending ..
I finished the watering, and later returned to the patch to check the nest. In roughly 3 hours time, one of the eggs was attacked by something.
NOT MOLLY! Before you even think to accuse her of this shenanigan's. I can attest to her whereabouts for that period of time. hehe. I carefully removed that egg, and now there are two.
I also found a few feathers lying close by.. uggg.. I hope the momma bird didn't become a meal for something else. Yikes!
I'll keep an eye on the two nests, and update you if the mother birds actually return and the eggs actually hatch. I have my doubts.
And that was my interesting weekend..
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
― Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!
All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.
About Me ~ The Artist
My art work incorporates a wide variety of subject matter, including landscape, seascape, cityscape, and still life images. My works are the product of a continuing process of exploration through which I seek to portray personal and visionary interpretations of my surroundings. My paintings are impressions of places and events from everyday life, an interpretation of my imagination, and personal responses to what I see and feel on a daily basis. More recently I have invested generous amounts of time into my landscape painting. I am surrounded by natural and man made beauty, which inherently presents itself in the tri-state area, and almost demands that I paint it.
Not everything is art. Art is not everything, but it comes close. Art is everywhere and all the time. Art makes you experience the beauty of the world, the people in it, and the places we call home. Art itself is so influential that it can tell stories, show feelings, and express passion or fury. Art exists in addition to language; expression of sensations and thoughts, revealing a way of thinking too subtle and delicate for words.
For me art requires love, honesty and perseverance. In return, it reveals some personal, non-analyzable, and creative untamed passion. For the public, art with its magnificent beauty, improves mood and health and builds better human beings and communities. It engages the intellect, softens the heart, strengthens the soul and frees the spirit.
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