I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

Yes, I KNOW I have been remiss in keeping up with the blog; but it's the kind of thing where either you're in the mood or you're not. Plus, if you're in the mood, you have to have the time. And something going on to write about. So here is a quick shortie post until I have time do do something more informative (and because Diane asked for more bird pix!).

Sunday was Queen City DTC's spring tracking test. This year it was at a new location, Valley View nature preserve in Clermont County. We had one TD entry which PASSED for a new Tracking Dog Tibetan Terrier from Kingsport TN. Sadly, none of the three Tracking Dog Excellent entries were successful. The pass rate for TDX is daunting- all the stars really must be in alignment!

There was an elementary school right next to the first track and we were watching from the sidewalk. This absolutely INFURIATED a killdeer who had "built" her nest right next to the walkway. "Built" is stretching it a bit, since it isn't much more than a depression in the dirt.



First Mama Killdeer shrieked at me, puffed up, and (quite bravely I thought) ran right up to me doing her best to look terrifying.

When I did not reward her with the proper reaction of terror and hasty retreat, she tried tactic #2; fake an injury.

See, she drags a wing and tries to draw me away from the nest thinking she is easy prey. However, killdeer for lunch was not on my agenda and I still refused to vacate the area.

Oops, Mama K, you forgot that you started out with your OTHER wing hurt. You need to take your acting class over again.

Finally she retreated back to her nest where she ranted and raved at us through the whole time we were observing, and when we started back to the car she tried dive bombing us just to hurry us along.

You know, Mama Killdeer, not to point out the obvious, but if you had decided to lay your eggs in, oh, say, the 200 acres of grassland nature preserve 50 yards away instead of next to the sidewalk, you could have been relaxing and eating bon bons instead of doing sidewalk patrol. I'm just sayin'. You might want to think about it next time.

One of the tracking dogs also flushed up this deer as she ran her track; the deer took off running TOWARDS the sound of gunshots from the nearby firing range, which makes me not feel very optimistic about her long term survival odds.

She did look pretty and was fun to watch though. I had the pictures cropped down a little better, but somehow when I uploaded them they reverted to the original and I'm too lazy to fix it.

I have several posts written in my mind and I will try to get them up and be more regular again; I am doing my best to shake off the winter blahs and get motivated to do something productive!