you bet
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Sainsbury
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 8:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] A birth announcement
love thy enemy?
On May 16, 2013, at 6:47 PM, Alison Wagner wrote:
> Hi~
>
> This morning while walking up the path along the ball field to
> work/school, I received a birth announcement from right field. An adult
> Killdeer with a “broken wing” alerted me to the hatching of their brood!
> There were no chicks to be seen. I checked the protected grassy alcove
> near the old high school where the chicks spend their first day once they’ve
> landed (from the roof), but no sign of them there either. At break time,
> I investigated further...heading to the top floor of the vacant Hinesburg
> High School building. It’s a perfect vantage point for viewing the stony
> roof of the 1958 elementary wing where they nest. However, in the seven
> years I’ve worked at this school, I have never been able to locate a nest
> or chick! Today was different. One Killdeer parent flew in to take over
> brooding duties and nearby a fluff ball of a chick on stilts was foraging
> among mossy islands covering roof rocks. If not for its telltale
> hick-up-bop, I’m not sure I would have been able to find the little deer.
>
> But the story doesn’t end there. Every year I have shared the Killdeer
> debut with anyone willing to stop and look. My motto, “everyone is a
> birder, it’s just some people don’t know it yet,” is revealed on their
> faces when they do SEE! Awesome stewards have emerged as well! We
> (humans) have unintentionally created this breeding habitat for them with
> so many dangerous obstacles to navigate. It’s the least we can do to
> provide (minimal) accommodations to see they reach the safety of the
> fields....Adults watch from a distance as adult Killdeer lead their young
> around the building, past curbs and storm drains, away from traffic and
> traps like open sheds. They redirect kids charging outside for recess.
> One year signs appeared in the upper parking lot: Careful Baby Birds!
> And then there’s Jason! He maintains the grounds, and is always on alert
> while mowing. He knows to watch for the adults’ distraction display, that
> it means the young may be hunkered down in the grass and impossible to
> see. Today I noticed he’d installed a steel cage over a storm drain in
> the grassy alcove area. Nice!
>
> But really, the very best thing to happen over the past seven years,
> happened today when I shared the enthusiasm and joy of seeing these birds
> with the newest member of the club....the principal!
>
> Ali
> Hinesburg Community School
>
Scott Sainsbury
Beacon Associates
P.O. 1660
Waitsfield, Vt. 05673
802-496-9393 ext 13
802-249-0525 (mobile)
www.beaconassociates.com
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