RHH's photos with the keyword: plover

I believe these are Kentish Plovers, photographed on the north coast of Northern Ireland, but stand to be corrected. I have none of my reference books and the ID was the best I could manage from the internet.

This is a female Killdeer on her nest, a slight depression scraped out in beach sand. We photographed her at Tawas Point on Lake Huron when we were in Michigan recently. She must have realized we were not going to hurt here because she did not even move from the nest, though when we first found it she tried to lead us away by pretending to have a broken wing.

Hiking out to Tawas Point on Lake Huron we found this Killdeer and her nest. She tried to lead us away from the nest but we found it and the four eggs she had laid and after some quick photos left her in peace. On the way back she did not even leave the nest and we took a few photos of her sitting there. Killdeer are large plovers that nest on the ground, simply scraping out a small hollow. Unlike other plovers they are often found inland on lawns, golf courses, really anywhere they can find bare ground. Their name comes not from the fact that they are a threat to deer but from their call. The female, if anyone comes near her nest will run away from the nest pretending to have a broken wing and trying to lead predators away. We knew the trick and found her nest anyway but the ruse is often successful. In the photo this lady was voicing her displeasure as we took some photos of her nest and eggs. On another note, we are home again. We brought home cabinets for remodeling a bathroom and so were not able to use the back of the car for sleeping. We drove through, a trip of 1850 miles (nearly 3000 km) and thirty hours of driving, stopping only for petrol and food, from northern Indiana and my sister's home there.

Though nesting on the ground, Killdeer eggs are well disguised. We found these along the shore of Lake Huron at Tawas Point when we unwittingly disturbed her. She tried to lead us away from the nest by pretending to have a broken wing but we snapped a few photos before leaving her to her business.

This photo was taken at the top of the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. The bird was wading in the hot water looking for insects and seemed not to mind the heat and steam.