Mourning dove meeting

[edelweiss]

Once again I had a very important meeting in my garden. Aha, the famous mourning dove, plus 17 of them.It is hilarious to watch out of my window, fighting over the birdbath, communicating to each other and would you believe it, not one single mess they leave behind. One day I was outside, cleaning the birdbath and suddenly a flock of mourning doves assembled on my fence and watched me intensively, until I finished pouring fresh water in the birdbath. I went back in the house and guess what happened. All of them, yes 15 of them descended on my lawn and they were fighting like crazy who would take the first bath. Anyway, just wanted to share something lighthearted .

[mscratch]

I have 2 that I have been attempting to lore into birdfeeder range with cracked corn..so far they only come to the gravel driveway but thinking perhaps as winter sets in they may come to the feeder yet..

[gumbo2176]

I have 2 porches on my house, both on the second floor with the larger one in back and a smaller one in front. My roof support columns are designed in such a way that I have a nice ledge where they meet the roof structural members. Doves love that area to set up house and it is not unusual for both porches to be home for a couple families of doves.

One day recently I found a baby with about half its feathers in an Ivy plant directly below the nesting area. It obviously fell out since it was much too young to try to fly. I got my ladder and placed it back in the nest and to my surprise the mother dove and an older baby didn't leave the nest when my ham fisted hands got close. They just fluttered their wings and moved out the way till I was done.

Both young ones on my back porch got to flying in a few more weeks and I spotted them and the mother dove in my garden a few times. They are gone for now, but will likely be back when it's time to start another brood.

I like the doves, pigeons are another story.

[Dillbert]

mscratch -

ref the mourning doves, they are preferentially ground feeders - they will come to platform feeders - but a "perch type" bird feeder is usually not their choice.

[edelweiss]

I like your post gumbo, every day I get joy seeing them.They had 4 times young ones over the summer.