"Blackjack" Killdeer

Killdeer are not that common in Prospect. They need open undisturbed space and Prospect Park full of human activity nulls the opportunity for open space birds to rest and feed quietly. Fortunately the ball fields situated at the west end of Long meadow are still closed till April 1st and so I hit the Blackjack! ( 21 in those card games).

I happened to come up the path from Upper Pool after counting Wood Ducks when I typically take a quick look at the ball fields. Scanning wide I spotted small whitish birds far off. So already thinking Killdeer , much to my surprise when I arrived at the west side of the enclosure. First I spotted a Killdeer in short right field of Field 2. Then another pops in, then another until I got the idea to scan farther; spread out from the first baseline to the right field , and a little over to Centerfield until I tallied 21 birds. The plovers moved towards field one but flew back to field 2. By lunch time, I counted 13 but with the harsh glare there might have been more spread out.

21 on a ball field ? Thought only 9 played on a team?  Nevertheless the team has lots of aces today.