Years ago I always had killdeer nesting on my lawn, but I no longer have stony, bare spots in my lawn. However, my next door neighbor does. For the past several days the killdeer had been guarding four little puffballs. I'd seen them just hatched in the nest, but never at this stage. What cuties they are! Mama wouldn't let me approach very close, so it helped to have a long lens, and the do a bit of cropping. Usually, she takes them immediately off into the tall grass, but she didn't for once. My neighbor complained that she wouldn't let him cut his grass. It was wild kingdom over there. He's tolerant of wildlife, but not a fan of it like I am. Bring on the animals!