"The tiny killdeer chicks ran along the edge of the road, so small that they almost looked like toys. I'd seen eggs in a nest before, and adults, but never babies. They were tiny, fluff-covered bundles of energy, looking like miniature adults on stilts."

We saw some precious little ones on our way to a friend's graduation party last weekend - killdeer chicks. I didn't realize this until I started doing some research, but these chicks are precocial, meaning they’re born ready to go—running within hours of hatching on their oversized, spindly legs.

Their dabbled, downy coats are perfectly camouflaged for them to blend in to the gravel of their preferred nest sites. If they weren't on the move, we never would have spotted them. Thankfully August had good reflexes and avoided them, but their choice of nest location (gravel) does often put them at risk. Most of the nests I've found over the years have been on the side of the road.

I suspect we've had some nesting in the rough area of our property (which we call The Badlands), but I haven't found the nests, only seen the adults and heard their calls. When you're out and about this summer, make sure to keep watch for birds and bats, as they are some of our best defenses against biting insects. (We also saw a bat flying above our heads last night as we were putting the duck patrol to bed. Hopefully this means that the new bat house is occupied!)

When you're working on yard maintenance, make sure to leave room for beneficial wildlife when you can. Bird baths, bird houses, bat houses, shrubs or trees that provide shelter - all of these don't take up a ton of room, but offer protection. Toxic sprays (like glyphosate) don't just impact the target species - they can impact wildlife, too. There are other options.

I believe supper is almost ready, so I'm going to sign off.

Have a good rest of the weekend, and stay safe out there!

This week's featured articles...

It is deer fly season, and this year's wacky weather has led to more of them around our homestead than I've seen in years. I figured it was time to share "Deer Fly Repellents – Natural Ways to Get Rid of Deer Flies".

If you still end up getting bit (I got tagged by one of them already before I realized we had a bumper crop of them this year), we also have tips for dealing with deer fly bites.

For those who are already into harvest season, putting up green beans in the freezer is a simple way to stock up. You can check out full instructions here, plus a discussion of blanching versus not blanching.

I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I decided to share both.

This is our favorite strawberry rhubarb jam recipe, and yummy strawberry rhubarb crumble.

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