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This Morning Outsideby Diane PorterMay 15, 2010 Right on the shoulder of the busy gravel road on the way to Birdwatching Dot Com, where cars pass all day long, the killdeer have laid their eggs. On a warm day, the incubating adult gets up off the eggs and runs across the road when a car passes. But if it's cold or raining, the adult stays on the eggs.
One car making a little swerve onto the shoulder would wipe out the nest. Or a dog going for a walk. Not to mention a fox or a crow. The nest's scant protection is being inconspicuous.
After all four eggs arrived, the parents started bringing some small pebbles to pillow the eggs, to decorate the nest, or... what? You tell me why killdeer bring objects to the location after they lay the eggs. Read Killdeer on the Drive (How to Help and How NOT to Help).
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When the eggs were first laid, there was nothing to mark the nest. They're laid in a slight depression, but nothing noticeable.