Part three in the story of the lovely couple of mourning doves, Sally and Twigs Zenaida, who chose to make a nest just outside and above my bedroom windows. It's Lucy's bedroom too but, of late, the house is warming up and Lucy is choosing to retire to her chair and bed in the living room. She's probably relieved to get away from dad's snoring.
For the most part I have tried to leave the doves alone and have only glanced at the nest on a few occasions to make sure one of the birds was on duty. There was quite a bit of concern over there being a viable egg after the two events described in this post from April 12th. Yesterday, April 24th, I got real curious about Sally's and Twigs' behavior. Both birds were nearby but away from the nest. Ultimately neither bird was directly attending to the nest for well over an hour. Somewhere in between I went out and attempted a few photos while standing on the front walkway outside of the wall with my arms and camera hanging inside the dove's area. It's dark and very difficult to see up to the nest for most of the day. I did go inside on April 19th to grab a hummingbird feeder, fill it and then return it. I didn't even look up at the nest as to reduce any avian anxiety over my presence. The feeder had been empty for about a week. There are at least three hummingbirds that I've known for quite some time. I was feeling guilty about ignoring their feeder. It went perfectly well.
Back to yesterday's photo attempt. Mourning dove squabs (baby mourning doves) make soft, high-pitched sounds that are often described as "peeping" or "wheezing." I have heard none of that. Yet, we have a squab. This bird hatched on April 14th or 15th. So it's 9-10 days old in this image. I haven't come up with a name yet, It would be nice to know the gender first. Mourning dove squabs, typically fledge (leave the nest) around 12 to 15 days after hatching. They are able to survive on their own within 5 to 9 days post departure. After fledging, they may remain near the nest for a few more days, often returning to roost at night, before eventually leaving the area completely.
Here's mom Sally about 45 minutes earlier, when I was trying to figure out the back and forth between her and daddy Twigs. I thought I may have gotten pictures of both of them but nope. Again, pictures of birds on the wall are taken though a dirty window from inside the bedroom.
They take away and they give their life as they live The living's right to live, it's all that we need to give The living's right to know...
Sally and Twigs Zenaida are a pair of mourning doves that decided to rear their young just outside of and above my cat Lucy's and my bedroom. This was first mentioned in this post. If everything were to go as nature has planned they would be expecting the first of two eggs to hatch within the next couple of days. However life has a way of throwing a wrench in the works with unexpected events or situations that disrupt plans or expectations. So far, I have witnessed two such events for Sally and Twigs. Right now I'm hoping things worked out in such a way for the second event so that their second egg remains viable. I'll provide a brief explanation.
The first egg was probably laid early morning on March 31st. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs for about 14 days. The male usually incubates during the day, and the female at night. So far this has been my experience. However, as the sun moved toward the horizon on March 31, I believe I may have inadvertently disturbed Twig's shift on the nest by bringing a low profile ceramic bowl of water out nearby the nest. He joined Sally on the other side of their walled enclosure and under bushes in front of the house less than five yards away. They had seen me inside their area before and, in fact, they probably observed my behavior around the house for at least a couple of days before I realized what they were up to. They were both under a large, weeping Eremophila bignoniiflora bush that's just behind the driveway. I had even pulled my car out of the garage with them there on at least one previous occasion. Be that as it may, I went around the house from the other side after what I already thought was too long to be off nest and observed them from the other end of my driveway, just inside the pedestrian sidewalk and close to the street. I was approximately 47 feet away from them and they took off. They flew so far east of me I basically watched them disappear. That was my first heartbreak. At the time I had no idea if a first egg had been laid. I discovered there was indeed an egg when I carefully reviewed some sloppy video recorded on my phone, frame by frame, a couple of days later. They were back early the following morning but of course that egg was no longer viable.
Fast forward to two nights ago, around 3:30 AM, Friday, April 11th. There was a commotion up on the nest that was so loud it woke me up. I'd describe it as mostly wing fluttering from the nest and ultimately I heard the sound doves make when they take flight which is called a wing whistle. I panicked in my stupor, ultimately grabbing a flashlight and going out the front door to the front walkway. My first thought was Sally had been accosted by a rat. The nest was empty but it also looked undisturbed. I have a camera that covers this area out to the street. I didn't see any events recorded. It's not unusual though for stuff to record to the camera and not always get picked up on the software. Yes, it's a cheap camera, I'd like to replace it. Well, I checked the camera again last night before bed and lo and behold there were recordings of me going out twice with my flashlight (I actually went out three times, one incident didn't record) and there was also a recording of a raccoon coming down from the roof. I don't believe it's at all possible for a raccoon to reach the nest but it obviously got close enough to disturb Sally. My hope is that Sally came back in time to maintain viability of the second egg.
Time stamps are in the upper left corners but are probably hard to read. Me with the flashlight is 03:35:03, this was the first time I checked, there were additional noises that had me go out again. The raccoon was obviously still mulling around, I believe on the adjacent roof of the garage. His timestamp here is 03:08:05. Behind me and the jerk raccoon is the Eremophila bignoniiflora bush which has just begun flowering. As always, click the image for a better view.
Here are some more pleasant moments with the doves. I will state again, all photos taken of the birds on the wall were taken from inside the bedroom through a dirty window. I will also mention again that mourning doves are prolific breeders, capable of raising up to six broods per year.
March 31st. Twigs, day one on the nest.
April 1st
Twigs. They do come down off the nest for a few minutes from time to time.
Sally.
Sally. This is the approximate location the first time they got spooked and both flew off. So, again, days before and at times like these they were perfectly fine with me nearby. I was over 45 feet away for these photos. Do you sense I don't want to take complete responsibility for them taking off and leaving an egg overnight?
April 2nd
Twigs. The dish had Dimorphotheca sinuata seed in it. I looked it up and it was fine for the doves but I don't think either one touched any. By late evening I had a huge bag of wild bird food delivered.
This is Sally, taken close to 7 PM. They seemed to transition on nest sitting duty a little past sunset right around the last hints of daylight. There are some markings that defiantly indicate to me which bird is which. They're not always obvious.
April 3rd. Twigs. I had to go in and collect the water dish which went out front with the bird seed dish. He was fine with me here.
April 4th
Sally, this was taken from my side yard. I was taking out some trash and she was up on the pinnacle of the roof over the center of the kitchen. She hung out in this spot for over 20 minutes.
Twigs.
April 7th. These are all Sally, shortly after 7 PM. Notice the inbound sparrow in the second shot.
April 8th. Twigs having some of the bird seed I put out on the wall. I stopped putting it there since there were so many other birds coming in. There's plenty of seed out in the dish and surrounding area under the Eremophila.
That's it for now. The gaps in photo taking were up to them. It was been significantly warmer for a couple of days and perhaps they had a preference to be down below and in the shade rather than up on the wall. I just took a break to check my mail and upon opening the front door I saw one of them at the edge of the driveway just under the Eremophila. I stopped, didn't check the mail and closed the door. I didn't get a good look but considering it was only 4:15 I'll assume it was Sally.
If you read all of this do me a favor now. Think good thoughts for the one egg still being viable. Ya know, they say... Having doves nest at your home is often seen as a positive omen, symbolizing peace, love, tranquility and new beginnings, with some cultures associating them with good luck or a sense of calm and harmony to a household and the remembrance of loved ones.
Ultimately, the "something special" the doves are offering me (and Lucy) might be less about grand symbolic meaning and more about the subtle, everyday benefits of having nature close by. I would like to think there is something to them choosing a spot right outside the bedroom even without subscribing to traditional symbolic interpretations. In our often busy, human-centric lives, having wildlife so close can be a gentle reminder of the natural world that exists alongside us. It's a chance to observe the rhythms of nature--right outside my windows. This connection is grounding and provides a sense of perspective. The soft cooing sounds and the gentle movements of the doves create a subtle, calming atmosphere, contributing to a feeling of peacefulness in my environment, even if I don't consciously attribute it to "peace." This is a connection I need right now, it brings me sanity when I don't see a lot of that happening in the world.
I am the ocean, lit by the flame I am the mountain, Peace is my name I am the river touched by the wind I am the story, I never end
My constant companion, Lucy, is 19 years old today, give or take a few days. She was rescued from the internal roads of a gated community in Los Angeles by my son around the first week of June, 2006 and it was always my estimation that she was probably born the first week of April, 2006. Awhile back I found a DVM's invoice for a medical procedure that was performed 5 1/2 weeks after she was spayed at 6 months of age. That invoice has a DOB of April 6, 2006 on it. Although they too were speculating by whatever means veterinarians use to determine the age of an animal. Lucy is a cancer survivor and she's one tough kitty. Overall she's been a very healthy little girl for almost all of her 19 years. Happy Birthday Lucy, from me, Docken, Annie, Clark and Vit!
Taken today.
I believe this was around her first week in my apartment in Los Angeles.
Lucy is purrfect. Taken with my phone on December 15, 2024. Lucy comes into focus at 0:36, sorry about that but I was paying attention to Lu and not the phone. Turn up your volume to hear Lucy's purr.
My walks for Saturday, March 29th and today, Sunday, March 30th. Both walks were moderately truncated for various reasons already lost in the passage of time. One thing for today, rain showed up around 5:20 AM and while there wasn't much measurable activity more was being forecast and I wasn't especially inclined to walk around with my camera in case it decided to dump. The lovely Docken joined me on both walks and her company was appreciated. She walked in her hood and to her local garden on Saturday, both of us taking pictures along the way.
Neither day was too exciting on the photo front for me.
Saturday, March 29th (2.5 miles)
This monarch butterfly was acting as my guide as I entered the arboretum at a nearby college campus. He flew circles around me close enough to reach out and touch and stayed along side me for a little over 100 yards. This is where he stopped to give me a photo op.
There are now several Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees in bloom.
It was a short trip through the arboretum and on to the botanical garden. This Coleonema pulchellum shrub is as flowery as I've ever seen it. It is commonly known as confetti bush.
I saw a lot of hummingbirds but they we mostly up high and often chasing each other away. This is the same male Allen's hummingbird that has been featured in the past several walk reports. Like many Selasphorus sasin hummingbirds I've experienced he's fiercely territorial.
There's always a mockingbird.
This house finch had me fooled from a distance. It seemed much redder and larger than usual. The shrub is Westringia fruticosa.
From then on it was camera down and chat time with Doc as I decided how much more I felt like walking.
Sunday, March 30th (1.5 miles)
It was pretty gray and dismal out and besides the ominous feeling of impending rain, I had left home bent over with back pain so I was more inclined to "walk the kinks out" than to take pictures. The walk did my back good within about 1/2 mile.
I should have tried taking a wider shot of this. These are wild rose plants that are seriously taking over an area that was dominated by red mountain sage (Salvia darcyi) and bog sage (Salvia uliginosa). I have in the past been able to carefully walk amongst those plants; not anymore.
A long shot of the aforementioned male Allen's hummingbird.
This panorama was actually taken yesterday to show Docken this little "island" that lost five rather large trees within the past couple of weeks. For the life of me I can't recall the name of the trees.
Google thinks the replacement trees are in the genus Hakea. It make sense since this is within the Australian natives portion of the garden. If you look closely slightly above the fresh, blonde mulch and a little left of the base of the new tree, you'll notice one of the stumps from the trees that were removed.
That's it for the weekend walk portion. The big story of the week though is a pair of mourning doves that began nest building right outside of Lucy's and my bedroom windows. I've named them Sally and Twigs Zenaida. Zenaida being the genus name for the species Zenaida macroura.
Sally and Twigs Zenaida
I first noticed this pair of mourning doves on Thursday, March 27th. It wasn't until Friday that I realized they were building a nest above the wall outside of my utility room above hot water pipes that run out from where the water heater is located in the garage. It's not the most attractive spot outside of the house. The utility room was added around 1970-1971 and it wasn't designed well to begin with. One issue in April of 2022 was my patching up where water pipes entered the main house due to a problem with a rat getting into the "attic" space above the utility room. This was done with a considerable amount of haste. Midway through the project, sealing off access there was an "escape pod" provided for the rat. From that point moving forward I never heard from the rat again. I only saw the critter once.
Part of the reason it's so hodgepodge looking is because I had to go from rat-escape design to rat no-entry design rather quickly. Remember, rats are out doing their thing at night.
It was also awkward and nobody was ever supposed to see it.
Anyway, 18" in front of this, above the larger foam insulated hot water pipe is where Sally and Twigs decided would be a good place to build a nest.
First spotted was Twigs. The male gathers materials and the female constructs the nest. He was back and forth in as little as 30 seconds. From what I observed, during the more active periods of nest building I'd guess that Twigs was bringing Sally a new sprig of something about once a minute on average. There were several times he would go in with a twig of something only to come back out and wait on the wall outside another 15-20 seconds, presumably for Sally to give him the go ahead for the additional material.
Everything shot from this angle was taken from my bed and we're looking through a dirty window.
My first visit inside their area.
I believe this is Sally. Their coloring, like many bird feathers, is iridescent so at times I found distinguishing one from the other difficult.
And the two of them.
After this I left them alone for hours but later in the afternoon both Docken and I thought it would be a good idea to bring them some water and I thought it would be a good idea to pluck a bunch of chickweed away from the dish so the birds wouldn't feel like they were swimming in it.
While I was quickly removing the chickweed, Twigs flew over the wall and joined Sally. At the time I was thinking, my bad. Later I went around the side of the house to the driveway to check on them. In part I'm thinking, we're in this for a long haul and while making efforts not to infringe on their space, they also need to be used to my presence.
At my closest point I was about 40 feet away when I took these pictures at 7:12 PM. Right after this they both took off over the house and I watched them until they disappeared heading east. I was heartbroken. Twigs is in front.
Over the phone Docken kept insisting they would come back but I kept thinking about how far away they flew. Later in the evening I read this basic information on a couple of websites... mourning doves will likely leave their nest at night if incubation hasn't started. Once an egg is laid, often in the early morning, both parents will start incubating frequently taking shifts between day and night.
Incubation is usually around 14 days and then it's another 15 days before the fledgling doves leave the nest. Typically there are two eggs laid and that can be separated by as much as a couple of days. I also read they will reuse their nest and that in Southern California, mourning doves typically raise 2 to 6 broods per year. So, seriously we need to get used to each other.
Day two, they were back as early as 6:25. That's when I first heard some cooing. The first pictures were taken around 7:07. If it's holding a twig you definitely know it's Twigs.
Day three, today. This was a little after 8:00 AM. I saw Sally on the wall first but by the time I got my camera she was up tending to the nest. Again, they had left late yesterday afternoon and they did that again today. From what I'm reading the first egg should be coming soon. Notice some streaks coming down in a couple of images, that was some of the rain this morning.
That's it for now. I hope this is an evolving story. I plan on getting a sack of bird food and putting it out and moving the water under the Eremophila bignoniiflora tree in front of the house (see images 19 &20 for the general location).
