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   As the years go by, our farm seems to become more and more a wildlife sanctuary.  It all started innocently enough with my wanting a place to deer hunt that would cash flow enough to break even.  With changes in habitat, each year the wildlife gets more diverse and numerous.  My wife and I enjoy the diversity and watching the animals almost as much as the original intent of just hunting deer.  We have attracted birds of all sizes and types from the tufted titmouse that nests on the front porch and hummingbirds that feed there to the trumpeter swans in the lake and turkeys in the timber.  Bluebirds are nesting in the wood duck house and wood ducks are nesting in the old cottonwood on the lake.  I have seen several birds I do not even recognize.  As well as watching, my wife and I both enjoy the interactions we have the birds and animals. 

   Yesterday, my wife and I, pulled up to the dock for a quick fishing trip just before sunset.  A killdeer walked across the lawn, dragging one wing.  Killdeers are pretty little shore birds, famous for acting wounded in order to protect their nests.  My wife was concerned that the bird had been injured.  When we got out of the truck, the bird flopped over on her side and appeared to be in the process of dying.  As we started walking toward her she got considerably better and started walking off, still dragging a wing.  Drawing us a few feet farther, she was miraculously healed and flew off.  We returned to the truck to get our gear and she flew back.  Landing near us, she was immediately back into the throes of death.  My wife was still convinced there was something seriously wrong with this bird.  I tried to explain to her, such a small bird could not fight to protect her nest, which was on the ground somewhere nearby.  She pretended to be hurt so anything that may injure her babies or eat her eggs would instead try to get her.  The predator, such as a raccoon or coyote, would think it would be easy to catch and eat a bird with a broken wing as she led them away from the nest.  When they were far enough away, she flies away, leaving a confused predator without a meal.  My wife went to the dock while I got the life jackets out of the cabin.  Watching the ground closely coming down the hill, I saw a slight depression in the lawn with three brown and gray speckled eggs in it.  The track in the grass made from the truck when we came in was inches from the killdeer nest.  No wonder she was getting so upset.  It is not easy to draw the attention of a truck away from a nest.  I got a piece of reinforcing rod, pounded it into the ground a few inches from the nest and attached a florescent orange flag to the top.  As we headed out in the boat, the little mother bird went back to her nest and sat on her eggs.   From the experience, we learned one more of the tricks of nature birds use to protect their young.    It was fascinating to watch the little killdeer, who perceived us as danger, attempt to draw the threat a safe distance away.  While she incubated her eggs and raised her babies, the nest would be safe from trucks and people carelessly walking across the yard.  She can handle the other predators in the area with her convincing act of being wounded.

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