Mr. Mom, the avocet of Hecla Lake: a Father's Day tale

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, Birders.

Andrew Floyd and I wandered out to Hecla Pake, eastern Boulder County, earlier this drizzly Sunday evening, June 17. The avocets have fledged. Which is, all things considered, amazing. The nest wasn't even a meter off the heavily tracked trail. How the eggs avoided predation or just accidental trampling by all the bikes, baby joggers, humans, dogs, coyotes, snakes, magpies, crows, blackbirds, and Lord knows what else in the area is beyond me. On top of all that, the pond was flooded earlier in the month, eliminating any foraging opportunities, one would think, for the parents. And speaking of the parents, that's the wildest part of all. At some point in the past week, the female disappeared. The male did all the incubating after his mate disappeared, and today he was walking his young along the busy trail. With all the rain, maybe they'll find earthworms or something. The whole saga astounds me.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County