There was a delivery at my doorstep when I returned from vacation this week. But not a conventional package. You have to look a little closer for this one.
A mourning dove has set up her house just over our heads, in a protected spot under our eaves. She is very diligent and watching us even more closely than we are watching her. I have not seen her leave the nest in the past week. I was wondering whether she ate during the gestational period or whether nature had simply equipped her to settle in without food until the eggs hatch. But yesterday, we spied her partner next to the nest, providing her with food.
Apparently mourning doves are monogamous, with males and females sharing in the nesting duty and in the feeding of the young. Females typically sit on the nest in the morning and early afternoon, with males taking over later in the day. I am not aware that mine have changed places, but equally not sure I could tell if they had. There are generally two eggs in the nest at a given time and a two week gestational period, with hatchlings moving to fledglings over another two week period. So by my calculations, we have at least three weeks before we become empty-nesters. And then, alas, we will have to remove the nest, since these birds can lay six times per season, and I can only divert my guests through the garage for so long.
In the meantime though, we are protectors of the birds. Our snow damaged front gutter can wait a few more weeks for repairs. And all in all, this is one of the nicer surprises that has settled in to share space with us. The last animal that moved in while we were on vacation was a ground hog that burrowed in under the front door step. We referred to it as the whistlepig, and it eventually got tired of us and left. And we have come to uneasy terms with the black snake that seems to live somewhere under the garage steps. We have moved it to the woods several times, and it just finds its way right back to the garage. It boldly lounges in the sun in plain view, just to remind us who is king of this castle. But I like the endurance of nature against our persistant attempts to control it.
And so we sit, awaiting the hatchlings, and peering at nature through the front door.
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