I was watering plants on my patio and unintentionally scared away the Mourning Dove hen.
These are her two eggs.
Shortly thereafter, she returned to her nest.
The eggs should hatch in about four more days.
Last year in late April, Mourning Doves made nests near my front door and on a plant stand on my patio. They came back this year a month earlier and made nests in the same places. I have pictures from last year that I never posted. This year I’d like to post the new pictures as I take them.
Last year, the bird in the front abandoned her nest not long after laying two eggs. The bird on the patio hatched two eggs, fed the chicks as they grew, and saw them off into adulthood. She or another Mourning Dove came back and reused the nest to hatch a brood of two more chicks. Somewhere there are four young birds who were born on my patio.
The habit of Mourning Doves is to make shallow platform nests made of twigs as you can see. The nests are high enough above the ground to be safe from predators. They are not very secure, though. It seems that a heavy storm wind could blow the nests away.
Nesting birds make messes, and they don’t clean up after themselves. There’s a lesson here.
Hot Tea with Sugar 