Moving Out
I've got some good news, I think. I went to check the killdeer nest after work today and nothing was there! I looked closer and there looks like there could be a remnant of a shell and maybe some yolk (but it did just rain today).
I did some reading about killdeer chicks. This is what I found.
“It takes nearly a month for killdeer eggs to hatch. The parents lead the babies away as soon as their down feathers dry within a few hours of hatching. If the Tiptons' nest had been there about four weeks the two eggs probably hatched normally. Since the young don't remain in the nest, it's normal to find an empty nest. Usually, killdeer parents carry broken eggshells away from the nest site and dispose of them.”
So that gives me a little hope that they hatched and the mama led them away to the grass. And there only looks like there is one yolk. So maybe two chicks hatched and the mom was moving all the eggs out of the way and the one that wasn’t fertilized was broken and then the mom took the shell away when she took away the other shells.
As for the other nest, baby horned lark is growing bigger every day. Nearly time for a name.
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