It was almost exactly a month ago when I wrote Spur is Back for Another Lay and I must have found those eggs in my back yard the day they were laid because when I researched the Spur-winged Plovers I discovered that the eggs take about 28 days to hatch. Yesterday they finally did hatch and now today with the sun out we have Mum, Dad and all the Chicks out and about.
This is good news for me because I didn’t have to kill them and they survived the neighbourhood cat and the builders next door (working mere metres away). It also means that I should soon be able to mow the lawn and do a bit of gardening out the back without getting swooped.
You can see from the photo how long my grass is getting out there and Mum with 3 of the chicks are visible. There’s actually 4 chicks even though I was sure there was only 3 eggs, but it was hard to get them all in the one shot. They are cute little things and my young girls are curious about them so that’s a win. Mum and Dad are still super protective though and start chirping as soon as we go out there. The chicks have good instincts as they pop down and hide in the grass as soon as Mum starts chirping...and they hide very well.
So now I’m hoping to be able to gently just shoo them off so that I can reclaim my yard. The last time we had chicks hatched up here they would toddle off on little day trips so hopefully that will start happening soon. I’m also determined to make sure they don’t try this again so I will get some scarecrow or anti-bird counter measure put up in the yard to ward them off next time. I'm a Live and Let Live kind of guy, but this is MY turf.
