A Update On Our Nesting Doves ...

Hello my dear friends,

over the past weeks every once in a while I would very carefully glimpse into our blue spruce to see what was happening and the little dove would be sitting there calmly, keeping the nest warm. She sat there patiently for days and days, week after week for about 3 weeks. I didn't dare to look for more than a moment and I didn't take any photos for fear of scaring her. Every two or three days I would look out of our living room window and I would see one of the doves flying in/out of the tree and things were looking promising.

Yesterday morning I was even more hopeful when I saw both doves out of the nest and sitting in the sunshine for a few moments before one of them returned to the nest.

The other one stayed sitting on our rock in the shade for some time and unfortunately this turned out not to be a good sign after all. A little while later both doves flew away and I didn't see them come back.

 Later in the day I carefully took a quick peek to see what was happening and there was the nest, no adult, no babies and what I could see was one little egg.

 I must admit that it made me a little sad, I had so hoped for little dove babies. For the rest of that day the doves did not return to the nest but flew around in our back yard.

This morning there were still no doves in sight at the blue spruce and I decided to carefully take a proper look at the nest.

Just as I saw before, there was only one little egg that unfortunately hadn't hatched and after a very cold night last night and no adult dove keeping the egg warm, I knew that it wouldn't hatch at all. I saw a little hole in the shell and my thoughts went with that the little chick might have tried to get out of the shell and died. I removed it from the nest. It was very cold. Using a flashlight I looked through the shell and I felt a little better after seeing that there was no baby in the egg. I think the adult dove must have pecked a hole in the egg to see if there was anything in it and when the discovered that there wasn't, they then left the nest. That made me feel a little better because I then knew, that I did nothing  wrong and the doves didn't either, it just wasn't mean to be this time but hopefully the next time the doves return, things will have a better outcome.

Nature is beautiful and for a baby bird to hatch from an egg is one of those little things that I call a wonder of nature. Maybe next year one of those wonders will happen in our blue spruce, right outside our front door.

I hope you are well my dear friends and life is treating you kind.

Have a peaceful and creative day.