 |
| Teeny egg and my mint in happier times. |
I worried that I had
scared mama bird (she was a dove) so many times that she would not come back or
would be gone for long enough that the egg would get too cold. But I should have trusted her. We eventually established a mutual
understanding, in which I could go out to water the plants and she would stay
quietly on her nest and watch me.
 |
| She is hiding in the corner. |
My coworkers warned me
that the babies would be loud, but these little doves were very well
behaved. I didn’t even realize
they had hatched until one day I saw them peaking out from under their
mother. (I was also surprised
there were two of them, but the mom must have popped out another egg after I
had quit scaring her…or the birds are twins!)
 |
| Dove love. |
It seems as if the
babies grew exponentially. The
nest quickly got crowded, but mama bird insisted on sitting on her babies until
yesterday morning, when we noticed she was gone. Then, by the afternoon, the babies/perhaps-now-teenagers
were gone too. I have to admit I’m
sad to see them all go. And that I
can’t help but think of the whole experience as just another example of how
quickly this great circle of life turns.
Also that I am grossed out by how much bird poo is crusted around the
nest.
