A Conundrum
Today we were outside doing some work on the trees. My husband has a small tractor and he was driving it around. I showed him where the horned lark nest was and he put a small wooden stake beside it so he wouldn’t accidentally drive over it.
We worked for awhile and then we needed to go over to the shop to grab something. The shop is close to the house and it is in an area that is covered in gravel. Every year we have killdeers and they are always shy but noisy. Well, as we were walking by, this killdeer stared at us and walked towards us. Well, charged really. We figured there must be a nest around but I was impossible to see it so we left it alone and just waited. Sure enough, I went back later to where it was and she was sitting on the ground. She got up and again, tried to scare me off. I had the steak to mark her spot but she wouldn’t let me anywhere near it. I finally got it about two feet away from her nest. Close enough not to run over but far enough away so I didn’t get an eye pecked out! It wasn’t until later when my husband put the tractor away and scared her off was he able to get close enough to put the steak down beside the nest.
And this leads me to an interesting question. One that’s been bothering me. Where’s the line between wanting to get a good picture/video and stressing out the birds?
For me it’s a nice picture and a couple of likes on instagram. For them, it could be life or death. I just want to admire them and enjoy the amazing journey from nest to chicks to adult but they are the ones living it. And if I interfere too much I could be the cause of why they don’t make it.
I think I already know the answer. And I will do my best to limit my visits to the nest. But boy is it ever not easy!!
We worked for awhile and then we needed to go over to the shop to grab something. The shop is close to the house and it is in an area that is covered in gravel. Every year we have killdeers and they are always shy but noisy. Well, as we were walking by, this killdeer stared at us and walked towards us. Well, charged really. We figured there must be a nest around but I was impossible to see it so we left it alone and just waited. Sure enough, I went back later to where it was and she was sitting on the ground. She got up and again, tried to scare me off. I had the steak to mark her spot but she wouldn’t let me anywhere near it. I finally got it about two feet away from her nest. Close enough not to run over but far enough away so I didn’t get an eye pecked out! It wasn’t until later when my husband put the tractor away and scared her off was he able to get close enough to put the steak down beside the nest.
And this leads me to an interesting question. One that’s been bothering me. Where’s the line between wanting to get a good picture/video and stressing out the birds?
For me it’s a nice picture and a couple of likes on instagram. For them, it could be life or death. I just want to admire them and enjoy the amazing journey from nest to chicks to adult but they are the ones living it. And if I interfere too much I could be the cause of why they don’t make it.
I think I already know the answer. And I will do my best to limit my visits to the nest. But boy is it ever not easy!!
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