Killdeer

Last Tuesday, as I finished my breakfast, I became aware that the bird song I was constantly hearing outside wasn't one I recognized. Thinking maybe it was a juvenile bird of some sort, I poked my head out my front door, and discovered the reason I wasn't familiar with the song was I'd never seen this bird in person before: I had a pair of Killdeer wandering around my parking lot.

It's described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as "a shorebird you can see without going to the beach," and I honestly can't think of a better way to put it. They certainly didn't stand still very often, so I pretty much just took a bunch of pics and hoped some of them came out in focus:

A head-on shot from when one perched on one of the boulders that lines the edge of the parking lot: 

And perched on the other one, with a blue car going by at a fortuitous moment to provide a nice contrast:

They certainly didn't show much fear towards me, so I was able to get fairly close once they were used to my presence. Then it became a matter of trying to follow along as it darted back and forth, holding down the shutter and cranking up the photo count. But the good news is, I managed to get very lucky and ended up with some nice close-ups:

Eventually, I also became aware that it wasn't just the two adult Killdeer paying our yard a visit—they had a little one with them:

Such a cute little ball of fluff. Emphasis on the little—it was barely taller than most of the vegetation it was walking through:

Probably my best closeup of the baby Killdeer:

Loved the leg raised all the way up in the air:

Taking a look around:

A couple of shots of the baby and one of its parents:

Finally, I included this one because, at first glance, it kinda looks like the bird is hovering just above the asphalt: