Tuesday Tails, De Duvs and their nesting, and Wolfie takes a trip.

The doves have raised one clutch of eggs, and I've seen babies on the ground and some fully fledged young birds flying with their parents.  THIS page has some excellent information on mourning doves from egg to fledgling.

There are so many doves here, cooing and chasing each other around that I'm hard pressed to know what I'm looking at at times.  I do know that the female is very small for a female mourning dove, and that she has been nesting in our yard for a few years.  Her mates have probably not remained constant, but she is unmistakable.

I believe this is an adult male.
The just fledged, first year birds have very dark feather marks, and are quite easy to tell from their parents.

The parents are already fending off intruding males and defending their oasis of good things against a torrent of other doves wanting rights to it.  I'm sure they will raise at least one more clutch this year. After they lost the very first nest in late wet season to egg thieves, they settled in somewhere nearby and raised two babies who hung around on the ground for awhile, and then learned all the local seed stations, of which there are two that I know of.  I don't feed birds but try to have enough wild forage to help them out.

We have more than one place for creatures to get water, and here is one I like a lot...

The big torts like this little watering hole.
We aren't quite sure what they think of the rock though they have sniffed it.

Wolfie sends his Report:

I had a great time visiting with my kitty sisters, and helping mom to read her book, and taking walks with Pappa.  One thing I did learn is that rabbits are not for biting, and they are pretty much useless when it comes to everything else.  They only lick themselves and other rabbits unless they trust you, and they don't usually trust you.  I can't say I blame them, the call of the wild is in my genes at random times, and I've been known to take off after a bicyclist or two from time to time.  Rabbits are no match for a bicycle, thus the caution in getting introduced to Bcakes and his buds.  I mean, I just didn't know which end to sniff!

All in all, I guess that Rabbits are more interesting than the big dumb lumps they call Tortoises.  Those never run, they just, hiss, and then tuck up and hide.  They look just like rocks but smell lots more interesting.

 Here I am helping Mom read her book.  Mom's a good reader, and she gives me belly rubs during our reading together times.

One thing I did regret was that there just wasn't enough time to go to the beach so I could eat bite the sand and lick it.  I love the surf so much you would think I was a surfer's dog.  Well, I'm an ex-surfer's dog.  That must count.  Hang Ten Dudes!

Speaking of the Alpha Male, since we got home, I've been teaching him new tricks.  The one he likes best is that when he wants me to come out from under the bed where I'm napping, he goes outside and rings the doorbell.  He knows that I'm not going to ignore that, and is endlessly FULL of himself when I come roaring out and barking my head off.  I'm going to have to start making him chase me around the house to put in eye drops.  That's the next thing I am going to teach him - the joy of the chase!  It usually ends up with me hiding under the bed.  Hmmm.  That door bell thing could mess up my plans.  Ah well, Happy Car Rides Everyone!  Wolfie, over and out!