rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I was riding my Goldwing home from work and caught a glimpse of this goofy little Killdeer Plover running around in the stones near the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks PA. I pulled over, got off the bike, got out my handy D7200 with Sigma 150-600 C mounted and proceed to stalk the little bird. For those not familiar with the Killdeer, they're an interesting albeit not very bright bird. When they feel threatened, instead of just taking to the air, they will run erratically then stop and go into their "broken wing" act. This is to draw the predators attention away from their nest. This particular Plover performed perfectly, problem was, there was no nest to defend, just this one bird and a lot of stone. They always look so sad. Eventually it did take to the air.

CLF Loc: Raleigh, NC

rmorrison1116, very nice series. Thanks for sharing.

Greg

Irvingite Charles Loc: Irving, Tx

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

The nest and the eggs look very much like the stones in your picture. You might have walked by the nest and never even noticed it. The Killdeer's broken wing act is one of the best in all of nature.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Nice shots. I used to have a whit '95 Wing.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

The spot where I saw this Killdeer is across the street from where their nests are. There are two stone lots separated by a road. The larger of the two lots is a storage lot that's usually mostly empty. That lot has a lot of tall grass and weeds in it and is bordered by trees and the perkiomen Creek just upstream from where it flows into the Schuylkill river. It's also across the perkiomen from the Audubon bird sanctuary at Mill Grove, JJ Audubon' home in Pennsylvania. The Plover nests are in and around the large lot. The lot where I spotted this bird is smaller and bordered by the road and a complex of warehouses and a large furniture outlet called The Dump. It's used mainly to park semi trailers used by local companies and exhibitors at the Expo Center. There's too much activity in that lot for the birds to build nests but when it rains there are lots of large puddles and at one end of the lot there are several dumpsters containing garbage and lots of fly larvae, one of the Killdeer's favorite foods. I also wouldn't be surprised if several of them have nests on the gravel covered roof of the warehouses.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Thanks.
Before the current 'wing I had a white '98 GL1500SE. Traded that baby in with over 100,000 miles on it for the 2013. Great bike, still ran as good as it did in the past century. I made a mistake some of my fellow Goldwing riders warned me about. Don't test ride one of the gen two 1800's unless you plan on buying one. It's like riding a large, super comfortable 900+ pound sport bike with more power than you'll ever need, and a pretty nice sound system and navigation system also. I test rode the silver one just to see what it was like not really intending to replace my '98 'cause it still ran great and I wasn't looking to start making motorcycle payments but, they were right, once bitten there's no going back. The Honda store offered me $6500 for my '98, more than I or they could sell it for, so we picked up the silver 'wing the next Saturday. Love that bike...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I went to a dealer in NH to get an oil filter for my ST1100, and wound up trading it for a white Gold Wing. I had lots of fun with that bike. I never rode the 1800, but I did ride other Hondas at rallies.

You've probably seen "Orange County Choppers" on TV. This is me and Paul at a bike show in NYC in 2002. I just called over to him, "Hey, Paul!" I realize I still have that jacket and shirt - not the color in the hair, though.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

That is so funny. Back in the 80's I rode a Kawasaki KZ650. I'd just gotten back from a trip down the east coast to the bottom of Florida, about 2500 miles round trip, and went to my local Kawasaki store in PA to get an oil filter. I was friends with the parts guy and we got to talking about the trip. I said the only problem I'd had on the trip is the damn verticle oil stripe on the back of my jacket from the chain lube. He took me over to the showroom and showed my a bike they had just assembled that morning. It was a leftover 1983 Kawasaki Spectre 1100 and it had a drive shaft. He said, this will eliminate your chain lube problem, then offered me $1000 more than it was worth, for my 650, on a trade for the Spectre; that bike only, that day only. I rode home on a shiny new, chrome less, black and gold Spectre.

Yes, I remember the show.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Very good Morrison.

sailorsmom Loc: Souderton, PA

Wonderful captures, rmorrison1116!