Killdeer on the run

Last Friday (03 June), I joined students from Winn Elementary for an aquatic ecology program at a local pond.  The students had a great time (as they usually do) exploring the pond and capturing aquatic invertebrates for identification, but this was not all they saw.  Along the driveway to the pond, a pair of Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) had established a nest.  As each new group of students passed the nest, the female Killdeer put on her show - faking an injury in an attempt to draw the students away from the nest site.  As I was leaving for the day, I snapped a couple of pictures of her from the cab of my truck.

Killdeer - standing still

Running Killdeer - look at those long skinny legs