Posted May 22, 2009

I found this killdeer nest recently in my gravel drive. l've seen the killdeer, a member of the plover family, on several occasions, usually in chirt or gravel. Bare gravelly ground, pastures, meadows, cultivated fields, are favorite nesting places for this bird. When I approached her nest, I heard her trilling sound of kee-kee; eet-eet-eet. Kill-dee kill-dee. Dee dee dee dee-ee kildee dee-ee. A second call was the long trilled 't-rrrrrrrrrrrrr. It was a half plaintive, half-petulant sound. She was pretending to be hurt and in great distress, tail feathers spread, one wing held extended over her back and the other beating wildly in the grass of the pasture where she'd dragged herself, trying to lead me away from her nest. She vigorously scolded me as she quivered and bobbed. I carefully stepped, looked around for her eggs. I knew they would somehow be camouflaged. To my left, there in a slight cup-shaped depression, was her clutch. They were protectively colored to blend in with the gravel surroundings. She and her soon-to-be-born babies were my friends. Killdeers, sometimes called killdees, eat ticks and other insects.

I thought, "How can people see something so wondrous and not believe in a Higher Power?"

Late in his life, Carl Jung answered the question of belief, "I don't believe; I know."