Another baby… baby dove, that is.

We’ve had a mourning dove nest by our front door for a few weeks now, and everytime I looked out, mom or dad was sitting there. But one day, I looked out, and neither was there. From where I was standing, I saw a small round something in the nest, which I thought was an egg. So I got my camera, held it high above my head, and hit the shutter. The “egg” got scared and tried to fly away…it wasn’t an egg, but a baby dove! And it couldn’t quite fly yet. So it kind of fell to the floor. And then tried to fly again and ended up down on the driveway. I felt so bad.

You should have seen me chasing that bird around my yard and the neighbor’s yard. I caught it several times, only to have it escape. Then the mom swooped down and stood right between me and the baby as I was trying to grab it again. Brave protective mama! But then she just walked around, making dove calls while the poor baby sat there on my driveway. So I went and picked it up one more time, and put it back in the nest. Next morning, both mom and dad were sitting up there with the baby perched on the edge of the nest. Later in the day, they were gone, but I heard the dove calls. I looked around, and found mom and baby sitting in a cherry tree next door:

st-louis-baby-bird
Looks like the flight lessons had started. Don’t know how long that’s supposed to last, but that’s the last time I saw the fledgling. A strong storm came in that night. Yesterday, I saw that the nest had been built up more. And today, the mom is sitting up there again. I suppose she layed another egg…or two?

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show hide 10 comments

June 16, 2009 - 10:59 am

Marmalade - GORGEOUS capture! We had a mourning dove family take up residence in our spruce tree – before I knew it – baby was gone!

June 9, 2009 - 7:43 pm

Anna - OH, that is way cool!

June 4, 2009 - 9:13 pm

Sarah - Beautiful image Lauri!

June 1, 2009 - 4:37 pm

Danna - so beautiful.

May 30, 2009 - 8:12 am

Julie - Great story and a wonderful image of mom and baby! Love it!

May 28, 2009 - 2:24 pm

roentarre - Simply spetacular light you have shown here

May 27, 2009 - 1:55 am

Lisa Kelly - awww love this image and really enjoyed your story.

May 21, 2009 - 5:54 am

Terrilyn - Oh wow!! This is just fantastic!!

May 20, 2009 - 11:16 pm

Anna-Karin - Wow, that is a great nature photograph. So sharp and clear. Just perfect!!

May 20, 2009 - 7:11 pm

Jen - Oh gracious Lauri! What an adventure! So glad it had a happy ending! You are so good with nature photography.

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