A couple of weeks ago my 8-year-old came home bubbling over with news about a new and exotic bird that had decided to nest on the ground in the inauspicious premises of an elementary schoolyard. It must be very rare, he surmised, because he's never seen anything like it before. His best friend said it had come from Africa. Based on his description (black and white stripes in front and brown in back), and knowing the nesting habits of certain plovers, it wasn't hard to figure out that it was a killdeer.
I've been following its progress with some trepidation, fearing that at some point during this gestation, the scales would be tipped from kindness to curiosity or cruelty; it is so very exposed, and 700+ children run around that schoolyard at different points during the day. But there she still sits, renewing my faith in humanity a little every day... or at least my faith in elementary-school-aged boys.
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