Triplets

This little critter was one of 3 siblings came to our yard last evening and "whooooo'd" around and fluttered from tree to ground to tree. The neighbor had told us about a nest of youngun's last year but I never saw them so it was a delight to spot them flitting around our back yard. At first we kept our distance but after discovering that they didn't seem too scared of us, we would slowly walk up to within 3 feet or so and just stand and watch.

We are on sentinel detail tonight; waiting for the little owlets to come back for another evening rendezvous.

The little guy below seems to be scolding me!

Bird Watchers = Old Fogeys

Maybe Himself and I are Old Timers now but we do enjoy sitting on a screened porch watching the birds at the feeder . . . and making plans for our future.

Look what I found!

I was weeding around my little Kutsura Tree when I found this. I was glad I found it -- otherwise it might have found me! I was startled.

I didn't know Missouri had spiders this big. I described it to Himself as the size of a Tartanula. It is! It is huge. Do you notice I am saying "it is huge"? I had planned to lock it up in this jar and let the sun bake it to death. Then I was going to preserve it for my grandchildren, some way or another, so they could take it to show and tell.

I was going to perserve her but Himself said, Let that spider go. So I took her across the road. I took the lid off the jar and lay it in the weeds. She could go free . . . but not in MY yard!

PS: it is a she as that white thing on her abdomen is the egg sack. She's going to hatch out about another 100 just like her! I can't quite match my photo up with "Identified" spiders in the internet but I will call her a Fishing Spider. That is as close a match as I can make without touching her. And I didn't. I won't!

Jack's Discovery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killdeer
Killdeer nest on open ground, often on gravel. They may use a slight depression in the gravel to hold the eggs, but they do not line it at all, or line it only with a few stones. Since there is no structure to stand out from its surroundings, a killdeer nest blends marvelously into the background. Furthermore, the speckled eggs themselves look like stones.
The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest.
Jack and I first saw the startled Killdeer flopping away from her nest, acting as tho she were injured in action. We showed Morghan and Maddie and then Erica. Each subsequent trip down the road in the golf cart got Mama Killdeer less and less excited. By Monday, she wouldn't even bestir herself off the nest. She was blasé. Or should that have been . . . we are blasé?