What bird is this, and what is it doing?
Killdeer – Charadrius vociferus
“Charadrius ~ Late Latin: ‘a yellowish bird’
vociferus ~ vocal, strident, vehement…”
Evasion dance
in full-furtive flare
a plaintive call
sounds across
mown fields and meadow;
“follow me
over here
away from my fledglings
see – I’m injured
easy prey.”
What dynamic is taking place among these three Bald Eagles?
The two are a mature pair
mated for life
this is their territory.
Who is this immature interloper?
A prodigal son returning?
Friend, foe or rival?
Ours to conjecture!
Thanks to Anne Christine (Leya) for this adventure into story-telling! And thank you to all who joined me last week for the Lens-Artists Challenge #175 – Follow Your Bliss. I very much enjoyed seeing and reading your thoughtful responses.
As we enter the holiday season, please continue to be kind and stay safe.🐾
Lindy Low LeCoq 
Oh! Both examples are quite astonishing. The second photo is incredible! 😮
Thank you, Manja. I feel blessed to have had such “close encounters” with Bald Eagles!!!
This first bird looks so happy but other three are trying to mate. Great images .
Thanks Anita
The first bird is trying to get me to follow it away from where it has a nest or fledglings.
The second is of a pair (mated for life) of mature Bald Eagles not sure whether to eat the interloper or just scare the heck out of it!
🥰
Very good stories and excellently photographed. The eagles tell an amazing story – and we would all like to know more about it! Did you stay to see what came out of it?
The mature pair are monogamous, mated for life, or until one is deceased. The immature is encroaching upon their territory. They let it walk on past, however, since Bald Eagles are opportunists, this interloper might have turned into a nice meal!
When I was less educated about Bald Eagles, I thought the immature might be a member of the family returning to help raise the next batch of fledglings. It works that way with Crows, but not with Bald Eagles!
I’ll post more of my folio of photos and poems “Walking With Eagles”, though I don’t like the way it looks on WordPress, still you can see the five year odyssey from fledgling to mature Bald Eagle. Cheers!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Lindy! Much appreciated!
Loved your stories Lindy. Was the first bird really injured???
Not injured – they feign injury to convince predators to follow them, as they lead us away from where their nest or fledglings are hiding. It’s quite a sight to behold!
Very cool! I actually saw that in Alaska. Had never heard of it before that and didn’t recognize the bird from the back.
Your images and the stories that you share are fascinating.
Thank you for dropping in and commenting Marlene. Clearly I am fascinated by birds, our only living dinosaurs!