[Tweeters] Killdeer Nest at Hayton - gone now

[via Tweeters]

  Hi all,

  There was a Killdeer nest at Hayton.  Last Thursday/Friday there  
were 2 eggs.
Sunday there were 3.  This nest was being sat by a pair - I even  
caught a 'change'
one time - I was returning every other day or so in the evenings.  I  
was looking
forward to possibly catching them soon after hatching or perhaps even a first
flight ... 

  I went back to Hayton late yesterday - arriving there between 6:10  
and 6:30.  The
nest was not active any more - neither parent sitting and no eggs.   
And no evidence
of the eggs - including no broken pieces anywhere close.  Since the incubation
period is 22-25 days I'm assuming something/someone got the eggs.  I would
expect that most egg predators would break and consume the eggs right then and
there - and leave the shells.
  So I'm guessing it might have been some misguided human.

  Are there people who collect and incubate bird nest eggs?  Would they know
how to keep the chicks alive long enough to fledge?  Do some people cook and
eat birds eggs?
                                                                       
        - Curious Jim in Skagit County
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