Two birds that I saw in Forest Park

May 15, 2009

I was walking to see the Stingray exhibit in the St Louis Zoo, and on the way, I spotted the KILLDEER (what a funny name, that wiki says that’s what their call sounds like!):

120509 killdeer forest park

It was accompanied by another one, and they kept running fast, and then “couching” down on the wet grass like this:

forest park killdeer crouching in grass

The wiki says they lay their eggs in the grass, so I thought, when I saw the first one sitting that way, that it was on its eggs….but no, it wasn’t; they kept running and sitting alternatively. Wonder what this behaviour was.

Update: Here’s the short video that I took:

Then I saw this one, which both and Dave Pierce of the St.Louis Audubon Society id'd as the EASTERN KINGBIRD :

eastern kingbird 200509

I do mean to walk a lot more in the park area and see what other birds I can sight, but it’s going to depend on the weather (very rainy lately), the sun (don’t want to walk in the hot sun, either!) and Eli’s demands…today she kept me all afternoon, glued to her side!

And since I have talked about her, here she is, with some very easy-to-follow instructions on her little dress:

140509 love me

And she’s saying, “give me five minutes more to sleep, because I am…..

too tired? 140509

to wake up immediately!”