One Baby Bird

Well, we are down to Mama and one baby bird. I am not sure what happened to the other baby... one morning it was just gone. Sigh. Life is not always fair. I will continue to enjoy watching the little guy that is left grow. Look how big he is already! I haven't seen the male parent, but I hear him all the time close by in a tree.

They've Arrived!

Yes, we have two new baby Mourning Doves. If you look closely in the above photo, you can see one of the little heads peeking out from under Mama bird.

I have never been so close to newly hatched birds before. I am really excited! Yes, I know that probably means I lead a rather mundane existence, but it's okay for now. My next door neighbor suggested I name the mother bird, but I have not come up with anything yet. Suggestions are welcome. However, I have come up with names for the newly hatched... Heckle and Jeckle... just seems to fit.

Mama bird had gotten used to my presence until Heckle and Jeckle arrived. Now she is quite spooked about my being close to the nest. That is why I was able to get pictures of the babies. When I took the first picture, she flew from the nest and tried to do the injured-bird-to-distract-me-from-the-nest routine. I quickly closed the front door and left her alone. Hopefully, I will be able to get more pictures in a few days and as Heckle and Jeckle grow, but for now I don't want to panic Mama bird any more than is necessary to water the plant.

Convenient Birdwatching

I enjoy birds and am rather pleased to have such a close-up view of this rather dumb bird's nest. The nest is in a hanging planter immediately outside of my front door. I have to be careful not to spook mother bird every time I enter or leave the house. I took the picture of the eggs when mother bird got spooked when I was startled by almost stepping on an over 2 foot black snake slithering over my front door mat. I was not wearing shoes so it was not something I wanted to touch my bare foot!

To the best of my knowledge this bird is what is called a "Mourning Dove" and there are lots of them around. They seem to be fond of nesting in hanging potted plants. I keep trying to explain to her that I need to get some water into the pot to keep her "cover" alive. I am curious to see if these eggs will actually hatch. These really are very dumb birds.

Happy July 4th!!!

I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday! We had a bit of rain, but there was still a lot of fireworks going off around here. I enjoyed dinner with my Italian neighbors and generally relaxed today. Tomorrow it is back to work!