literally!
The other day we had to move some cows down at the prickle farm, and walked the cows up the laneway. At the end of the lane, as the cows were filing in, The Husband spotted these:
VERY HARD to see, these are plover eggs, and the only reason he noticed them as he saw where the parent bird had been sitting (this is THE nest, just a little indentation on the ground, with a bit of old cow poo scratched up) when the cows came past. The bird sat on her eggs, making a warning noise at the cows, and the cows just walked around. Not until the motorbike arrived did she move away, dragging her wings and attempting to draw us away after her.
Can you see how easy it would be to NOT ever see them? This is the first time ever I have seen their eggs, even though I have seen many plover birds doing the wounded act over the years.
Aren't they beautiful?! and a really big egg for a bird that isn't so big, they are about a large chook egg in size. The plover isn't nearly as big as a chook!
We rode away a bit and waited, and the parent bird came back to his/her eggs and settled back down. I think this is a pretty big batch of eggs, normally I've only ever seen one or two babies running about with the parents. We will have to go back again - they live near the water square so are easy to find - to see how many babies hatched out!
I'll keep you posted!
It really is survival of the fittest isn't it? Great camoflage though.
ReplyDeleteNot a very intelligent bird that makes a nest without protection! My Nana was swooped at the washing line & hit when I was a little girl & I never liked Plovers since
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that...3 years ago we were at Currumbin (Gold Coast) and there was a mummy, daddy and 2 babies living right on the sidewalk on the busiest highway, they sqwaked (can't spell) when anyone came near them.
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