Doves In Patio Covering

by Lori Burrill
(Irvine, CA)

Our Doves Nesting in Patio Covering

I love this site! Thank you. I am a huge bird-lover (cat and dog lover, too). Have 2 hummingbird hangers in our small-ish Irvine, CA backyard.

I have a finch feeder and another wild bird feeder.

We have a small fountain and another much larger fountain my husband built.

I have often seen the birds drink & bathe there.

I discovered the doves creating a nest in our patio covering and was delighted to see them nesting there.

When I witnessed the "changing of the guard", I thought I'd explore more about them online.

I think it is so cool that they both tend to the nest and I am thrilled to watch this process.

My biggest goal is to keep the cats away...they can not climb to the nest, but I don't want them pestering my lovely couple.

My kids think I am crazy, but I point out my nest to their friends and anyone else who will look (the friends think it is cool, too).

Can't wait to see the babies!

UPDATE

Ok. This has been a challenging 24 hours.

Our 2 baby doves have been growing and I (my kids think I am nuts) have enjoyed watching the "changing of the guard" and the parents feeding the 2 babies.

Last night, we noticed some of the spare nests had fallen (perhaps maneuvering has gotten challenging as the babies are getting bigger).

This morning, one of the babies was discovered fallen from the nest.

I picked her up (after our cat had found her) and tried to save her.


I am somewhat clueless about this which will help you understand the sob story.

We put all/any cats inside and put baby #1 up away from the nest. Went to work.

Got a call from 16 yr old daughter #1 who saw the bird on the ground.

After much confusion, I found out it was baby #2 (OMG!) Came home and removed the living baby back to the nest.

It was breathing but very traumatized. The parents who witnessed me putting him/her back in the nest position quickly flew off.

In So. Cal. today it was 90 plus degrees, but the wind concerned me.

The bird was sweet and responded to me, but, again "I am clueless". Thank you for the internet!

I called our animal rescue and they said once the birds abandon the nest, forget it!

I could not do that because I looked into this sweet birdie's eyes and it was ALIVE!

It was up to meet to HELP! So, I researched and found a solution for warm water & bread crumbs.

I used this in a small 1/4 measuring cup and encouraged my dear to drink.

At times I thought it would die of drowning in my water, but at times when I said, you can do it, it would open its eyes and gulp down some solution.

After a while, I thought I should give it up to nature...which I did.

I am overjoyed to say that my hopes & prayers were answered.

After TWO hours, the parents returned...they did a dance to see where both their babies were (and to see if any cats, etc. were nearby).

One eventually made it to the nest and, ultimately, started feeding my baby!!!!

The other partner flew off but came back periodically to check in...

I could not be more delighted.

Oh, BTW, since I read that the babies could die from being too cold, I secured some dryer fluff and put it up into the abandoned nest, although it was really warm here in So. Cal, it was windy and the baby was shivering so I wanted to give it all the help it could get.

The parents DID look upon the drier fluff more curiously, however, they are very tolerant and accepting birds.

They accepted the baby #2 and have accepted the new and refurbished nest w/o being critical.


What a tremendous experience of nature this has been.

As much as I am saddened to lose one of the babies, I feel such a wonderful force of nature to have saved baby #2 and a new-found connection with their family!

Bless all of the nature lovers of the world!

From wild-bird-watching

It's not a good idea to use dryer lint. While soft initially, if it gets wet it will dry very hard.

Gene

Birds and Blooms	Pioneer Woman	People Magazine	First For Women