Ack!! Help!! 2009

[Shasta542]

How 'bout "Fern"? 

I love "Fern"! That's great. 

[southendmd]

I love "Fern"! That's great. 

Haha!  And her little "fernlets"-to-be.

[Shasta542]

Haha!  And her little "fernlets"-to-be.

LOL. Yeah. The babies need names too.    And I think the dad was around last year, too. Is he there this year, dellaluvia?

[delalluvia]

LOL. Yeah. The babies need names too.    And I think the dad was around last year, too. Is he there this year, dellaluvia?

Fern is perfect!!! 

If you think I'm going to go out there and peek under the feathers to tell a her from a him... 

Heck, how would I know?  It might have been the father.  Not sure. 

Hmmm, according to this, it's the father who flies in to switch out places:

Reproduction: Breeds mostly from late January to late September (peak in May and June); in California can breed
almost all year, depending on weather (Nice 1923). Raises 2-6 broods a year.

Oh hell no!! 

Almost invariably lays 2 eggs per clutch (range 1-3). Usually breeds solitarily, but sometimes more than 1 nest in same tree. Male incubates much of day and female at night, for 14-15 days. Young fed seeds and crop milk by both adults during nestling period of 13-15 days (VanVelzen 1974).

http://digital-desert.com/wildlife/mourning-dove.html

[southendmd]

Fern is perfect!!! 

Cheers, Del!

Whaddya know, there's actually a thing called a "fern bird".

[delalluvia]

Hatched!!!

I saw the mother/father sitting higher up on the nest in the last day and this morning when I went to check on her/him, saw the dove sitting high on the nest, and suddenly just below, a little wing stretched out and shook itself.

I only see one so far. 

 

(Del passes out cigars)

[southendmd]

Congrats to Auntie Del!

[Front-Ranger]

Just in time for Easter!! And since it's Heath's birthday, will you consider naming the baby after him??

[delalluvia]

Just in time for Easter!! And since it's Heath's birthday, will you consider naming the baby after him??

heath - noun:     1.   Any of various usually low-growing shrubs of the genus Erica and related genera, native to Europe and South Africa and having small evergreen leaves and small, colorful, urn-shaped flowers. Also called heather   2. An extensive tract of uncultivated open land covered with herbage and low shrubs; a moor.

Sounds 'natural' enough.  Why not?  It is his birthday. 

[Shasta542]

Congratulations on the new arrival/arrivals!!! Fern, Heath, and who's the daddy?