And no, I didn't deliberately shoot these killdeers mating. As those who know me know, I'm very short-sighted. My telephoto zoom is my vision piece. And, as those who've taken pictures with me also know, I take lots of shots at a time.
It's the law of large numbers: The more pictures I take of any given subject, the more chance there is that at least one will be in focus.
Or, they might reveal an interesting sequence...
Like this...
The Nine Mating Moves of a Killdeer.
1. The nonchalant approach. Really, this killdeer is just strolling down the beach.
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| 10:27:11 a.m. |
2. What's that? A hot new bird in the neighbourhood?
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| 10:27:12 a.m. |
3. Maybe call. See if he's free and interested.
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| 10:27:14 am. |
4. Time for a drink. And a mirror.
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| 10:27:26 a.m. |
5. Ready.
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| 10:28:35 a.m. |
6. Steady.
(Only one pair of legs on the ground. Yes, it was the Killdeer foot count that told me something was going on.)
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| 10:28:40 a.m. |
7. Go! (Or not. I was a very long way away.)
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| 10:28:48 a.m. |
8. More action. (Or maybe he's clambering off?)
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| 10:28:49 a.m. |
9. The End.
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| 10:28:51 a.m. |
I don't know what that male did to lure her across the beach. Scraped a nest, perhaps?
And yes, I was shocked when I realized what I had taken pictures of... I mean, isn't the end of June a bit late in the season for mating? What are they thinking?
~~~~~
What are these? Killdeers
Location: South of Chaplin, along Chaplin Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo date: June 29, 2012.
~~~~~
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