Killdeer Feelin' The Love

The killdeer post from a few days ago inspired Karen Cramer:

While waiting for him in the Jeep, from along the western edge of the parking lot I heard this commotion consisting of continuous and raucous "Kill-Deer", "Kill-Deer" calls. After my Uncle returned with his steaming cup of caffeine, I had him drive toward the area of the lot where all the noise was originating. There, we observed a group of 5-6 killdeer, darting and calling, chasing each other, displaying, and, yes, a couple of killdeer were even doing the WILD THING. Of course, always having my camera on me as if it were a third eye, I just had to snap a photo. So attached to this message is my Future Killdeer Parents photo. Enjoy!

Thanks, Karen, I would say, we are enjoying this, but would that make me sound weird? I remember the first time I saw birds engaging in mating. I was kid and was watching two flickers--I was surprised and excited, I had read about mating and now here it was. It looked almost impossible to figure out that balance--the killdeer in the above photo are at least on the ground, the female flicker I watched was balancing on a branch and the male was balancing on her--that seems like a lot of work. Anyway, I remember my mom walked in and asked what I was watching so intently out the window. "Two flickers having sex!" I answered excitedly. She came over to watch, and I'll never forget the look on her face when she said, "I don't know if you should be watching that." I think in her mind she was thinking, "On the one hand, she's a kid, should she be watching this? On the other hand, this is nature and scientific..." The flickers decided the dilemma for her and both flew off.