Apr 10, 2011

News from the Nest: Florence and her New Baby Birdie

For those of you just joining us, Florence is a mourning dove that has built her nest on my balcony. This is the latest update about her and her new baby birdie, Uno!

The past couple days have been pretty eventful, yesterday in particular.

You see, Florence and her husband, Herman, had two little eggs in their nest.

She's been sitting on there for a while now, and just a couple days ago I noticed that there was a baby birdie in there! The eggs had hatched!

What I did not know for sure, though, was whether there were indeed two babies. I had only seen one little fuzzy head that first day peeking over the nest, but they are so small when they're just born that it's hard to see in there.

Then, a couple days ago I was able to catch them at feeding time! Great! I could get a good look. Well, I did and unfortunately, it looked like one of the babies wasn't moving. These things happen in nature, I guess, but it was still sad.

I named the healthy baby Uno.

I was worried about the other one and was planning on trying to catch her away from the nest so I could remove the poor other birdie. I thought I'd do it yesterday, but instead, when I woke up in the morning and went out to say hi to her (like I always do!), this is what I saw.

Florence was on the towels under her nest!

Oh no, I thought. A baby fell out!

As it turns out, I think she probably did this on purpose to get away from the poor other one up there. And, honestly, I think she's a smart bird! Now she has a soft towel and we don't have to worry about anyone falling out of the nest... and I get a better view of what's going on because I can see her perfectly!

Baby Uno. He's just a little fuzzball right now. About 4 days old.

So now, the problem is that she set up camp right next to the sliding glass doors... where Pimp and Moo can stalk and terrorize her from three inches away. Sigh. So I had to think of a way to make her feel safe and block her from the boys' views.

What I decided to do was to tape up sheets of paper to make a little "wall" for her instead of glass. It was the best idea! Now Pimp and Moo won't scare her and Uno and she can feel a little safer.

And to make her stay with us here even more pleasant (she has the luxury suite, you know), I put out a little dish with bird food and another deeper one with some water -- in case she wants to wash up to look pretty for Herman or just cool off. Deluxe, right?

Flo, Herman and Uno's buffet.

These are some lucky birdies and I'm such a proud grandma. I hope Uno grows up big and strong, and I'll keep you all posted.

Flo and Uno, relaxing this afternoon.

P.S. I post pretty often about Florence and the birdie family on the Cute's Facebook, so follow over there if you want more updates more often. Happy Sunday!

24 comments:

  1. I'm actually quite jealous of the birdies. They really do have a luxury suite. Keep us updated. :-)

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  2. What a wonderful post about the Dove family!!! Great idea w/the paper in the window too, i can just see Moo and pimp having a bird stalking fest!!!

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  3. They must really feel safe with you! I wonder how she got that birdie down there?

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  4. Congratulations Grandma. That little family really chose the right place to nest; all birds should be so lucky. Special hugs to Pimp and Moo during their temporary incarceration.....

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  5. Awwww you are amazing!! The bird was lucky to find you! She KNEW what she was doing! lol. Love the name Uno! I had told you I had a mourning dove that had babies on our balcony a number of times (I had named her "Birdie Girl")....don't know if I told you but mourning doves usually come back to the same place to have their babies as they had them the year before.....GET READY!!

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  6. It's so much fun watching birdies hatch, grow up and leave the nest. Putting dat towel down was a great idea.

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  7. Thank you! And don't worry too much about Pimp and Moo... they have three other sliding glass doors they can still look out of!

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  8. I hope she kind of carried him down a little? I'm really not sure, but I'm EXTRA glad I had those towels down there!

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  9. Will do! I love that they are here. It's really so cute and I just love watching them. :)

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  10. Yup, I remember you saying that. I think it would be so cute if she kept coming back here. She's more than welcome any time. :) And, you're right, she is lucky! I can't think of many people who would go through all this extra just to make a random birdie feel at home. Hehe. I hope they appreciate it!

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  11. It really is, Mario. I love watching them grow up. I'm actually really excited that she's on the towel now -- so much easier to see. We're going to have some great pictures of baby Uno!

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  12. Yay! Genius Dorian. :-)

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  13. Animals are drawn to the right people. The knew to come to you Dorian. You will protect them!!

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  14. This just made my day wonderful!

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  15. Very heart warming....you are such a sweet and caring person Dorian <3

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  16. Wow, that is just terrific that the Florence moved the baby down to the towel. Shows you how smart animals and birds are, for sure. Florence sure knew what she was doing to build her nest on your porch.

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  17. OMC! You is so pawsome my auntie! You has done so well for da birdies making a home on your balcony. Sorry to hears about da other little birdie but glad dat one is doing well. I bet she just luvs dat soft spot for her and her baby. We luvs you Auntie!! Purrrrrrrrrrrrs

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  18. Location, location, location.

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  19. Oh, what a smart mom you are, Flo! I know you'll take good care of little Uno! (and @Fern Porras - ROFL!)

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  20. well no more going on the balcony for Moo and Pimp!

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  21. Sorry to see that Uno's sibling didn't survive. As the late, great animal conservationist Steve Irwin would have said, it's Nature's Way. Poor little thing. But now there's one chick getting 100% of its parents' attention. Uno will certainly benefit from those circumstances. Here's hoping that translates into a healthy UNO thriving and growing to adulthood.

    I'm glad that towel was there. I wonder if UNO fell from the nest and Florance shifted her position accordingly? If so, the towel might have helped cushion the landing.

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  22. You are our kind of people! Thank you for what you are doing for Flo, Uno, and Herman.

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  23. oh, I hate those darn doves and their bad nest building. Ugh. They ALWAYS fall out of those nests!! It's a good thing you had the towel there to catch him! HOORAY! Uno is gonna grow up FAST. Too fast.

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