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