Birds of a feather flock together…Not. At least not at our house. I have not researched this old adage, but after several weeks of bird watching (dove watching) I can attest that truth is often very much stranger than fiction.
My desk sits in front of the second set of French doors leading into our courtyard. I love watching the birds. Spring like weather is early this year and even though we have not started the fountain, the doves get their drinks from the water in the basin and often perch on the base.
One morning a few weeks ago I became aware of a very busy dove…back and forth with small twigs and grasses flying to an area at the back of the house that I couldn’t see. I had been watching for quite some time when my daughter who is staying in the carriage house messaged me a picture. Nest building!
Now for the fascinating part of this relatively normal process.
We have a fireplace in our courtyard. On the little mantle of the fireplace are two “coastal” wooden birds stabilized by rocks. They were here when we bought our town house, one gray and one yellow. In fact just a few weeks ago during a torrential downpour they were blown off of the mantle and the yellow bird lost part of itself. I brought the two pieces inside to glue before reattaching them to the body.
At this point, that process has taken a back seat. You see, the doves built their nest in-between the two smooth stones that supported the wooden birds.
You can’t make this stuff up. The intriguing part of this tale is that the nest is extremely close to the French doors that we constantly use to go in and out of the back of our home. So much for safety and privacy.
Nothing has dissuaded this mother dove however. After a few days…an egg!
And nesting.
After a few more days two eggs.
We now have a mother dove nesting on her two precious eggs. We greet her each time we leave our home and re-enter. My daughter can watch her more closely from her vantage point across from the nest, but I can see her up close and personal each time I peak out the back door.
She is so precious. So trusting. Even when Finlay, the creme dog is around.
We have two pair of doves that frequent our courtyard. We have watched them for the past year and a half since we bought our townhome, but we have never had a nest.
The other dove couple visit frequently as well, but we haven’t seen their nest. I guess the best spot was already taken.
My concern now is the fate of the eggs and the whole process of hatching. We will be gone for a few days. Hopefully the new arrivals will wait for our return home.
