Great Lakes region, USA. July 2026.
I took my camera, my kayak, and an N95 mask and hit the river. The wildfire smoke was quite intense. Luckily the wildlife seemed to be coping. These killdeer were one of the highlights of the trip. I was surprised at how close they let me get.
They’re one of a whole bunch of birds where the name is meant to be imitative of their cry, I believe.
I might lack imagination, because I can rarely hear it, but in the killdeer’s case, listen to the second half of the 2001 recording on this page for an idea.
Edit: the -8s and -1s marks of the 1955 recording might be better, actually.