BEAU JACK AND THE DIAMONDBACKS

Take him out to the ballgame.  Not.

(Photo courtesy of the BRD)

DOVELET

This morning I went out to check on baby dove.  He was sitting in his nest, all alone, apparently waiting for someone to bring him some food.  Late this afternoon, I went out again and found that he has left the nest and was securely perched on the gridwork next to it.  He didn't seem at all concerned about me.  At least I don't think he was, though his eyes look pretty big as he carefully watched me take photos of him.

At any rate, he seems to be growing fast and will probably test his wings in a day or so and that's the last I'll see of him.  So this is his graduation picture.  Vaya con dios, young dove.

WATER

Something different from Hurricane Irene.

BIRTH!

There has been an opening.  Sometime in the past couple of days that egg the dove couple had been sitting on in front of my home has hatched.  I discovered the new nestling this morning.

It's staying close to mother (or father) right now, especially through a rain shower this morning.  But judging by its size it will soon be leaving the nest and creating more hoo-huh-hoo-hoo racket in our nice quiet neighborhood.

A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

All right, enough about those damned doves for awhile.  Give a listen to one of the most brilliant talents around.  Esperanza Spalding.

DOVE UPDATE

I snapped a picture this morning but I can't tell whether this is mother or father.

Maybe some of my "dove experts" can tell me.

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Later: SWMBO wisely suggested I look on the Internet to answer some of my questions.  So I did.  And I learned this: Incubation takes two weeks.  Mom and Pop take turns on the nest, he usually in the morning and early afternoon, she in the afternoon and night.  Also: when one or the other is flushed from the nest, it will typically flop to the ground and flutter around as if it has a broken wing.  This is to lure the predator away from the nest.  That's exactly what happened when I took today's picture.  The camera makes a little beep when it takes a photo and that apparently frightened the bird, which exploded off the nest and then down to the ground about six feet away and began fluttering around on the ground, one wing sort of acting like it wasn't working well.  Horrified, I retreated to the house and when I checked later, the bird was back on its nest.  Fortunately the rowdy departure had not dislodged the egg(s).

DO DOVES CRY?

I have a small problem.  It's a dove mother.  Or mother dove.  It's in a tiny nest on the arbor in front of the house.  A week or so ago, I noticed a shattered egg on the tile.  I looked up and saw this rather raggedy nest.  And I saw a dove's tail end on top of it.  Uh-oh, says I.  They're breeding.  But it's been several days now and each time I pass under it I look up and there she sits.  She has reversed her position now so I'm looking right up into her face (?).  Her big dove eye stares back at me and never blinks.  Nor does she tremble or move even a millisec.  (Whatever that is.)  I had become concerned and asked SWMBO "do you suppose she's dead?"  I mean, she looks petrified.  But then she reversed her position so I know she's alive.  And that eye.  It haunts me.  It doesn't blink.  I wonder if doves CAN blink their eyes.  She doesn't seem to be afraid of me, though I stare at her from only a foot or so distance.  And she stays.  I mean, the temperature has been around 90 in the daytime and she's always on the damned nest!  I asked SWMBO tonight how long dove eggs take to hatch.  She said maybe as much as three weeks.  I said "But she doesn't ever seem to leave the nest.  What about food?  What about water?  I've even thought of somehow bringing her a tiny cup of water."  SWMBO laughed at me.  She said "she'll be okay, she probably leaves the nest to eat and drink . . (SOMEWHERE) . . in the early morning."

Well, we don't particularly like doves.  They cluster around and they're noisy with their "hoo-huh-hoo-hoo" sounds constantly.  But.  And it's a big but.  This is a mother dove.  So I'm stuck checking on her, worrying about her.  Gawd!  I feel so stupid.



If you're still reading, give some thought to my blogger buddy Joan, down in Charleston, South Carolina.  She seems to be right in the path of the new Hurricane Irene.  Tell her to keep her head down.