Nature Done Wright

Photo courtesy of a Lenape Meadows dad
   Killdeer,
those nifty-looking shorebirds that seem to pop up all over North
Jersey's open spaces this time of year, seem to have a knack for laying
eggs in the worst places possible — on gravel roofs, next to active
construction sites, or in the case of a  Killdeer in Mahwah, by the
side of a playground at Lenape Meadows School.
   When
someone at the school saw a pair of beautifully colored eggs and no Mom
nearby, their first instinct was to protect the eggs by covering them
with a traffic cone.
   But a bird-watching student and her dad wanted to make sure that
this was a good strategy. The Celery Farm's marsh warden, Stiles
Thomas, was consulted, and  he suggested they remove the cone as soon
as possible in hopes that the Mom had not started incubating yet. 
  
The students moved the cone so that the eggs were out in the open again
but marked their presence so that young athletes would not accidentally
step on them.
  
The last we heard, Mom was back and sitting on three eggs, and students
were giving her some breathing room during the expected nearly
three-week incubation.
   As the bird-watching student's dad says, "It's going to be a stressful 20 days."
   Nice job so far, Lenape Meadows!
    More on Killdeer here, and why they often deserve an Academy Award for their acting here (scroll down to "Life History").

    For a look at four Killdeer eggs at a site in the Meadowlands, click here.