New Additions (2)

A couple of weeks ago I posted the pictures of the dove that had nested in our hanging fern and laid a couple of eggs. Well, they hatched last week and it has been pretty entertaining watching them. Isaac has named the two new additions, "Trinidad" and "Tobago" or Trini and Toby for short. It has been like a mini National Geographic special. For the first couple of days their eyes were closed, and they looked like they had damp fur instead of feathers.

The mother was real protective and flew around nervously every time we came in or out of the apartment. Then their eyes opened, their feathers dried out and became more apparent. It was amazing how quickly the looked like their mom. The picture below is like 3 days after they hatched.

The day after that mom coaxed them out of the nest, helped them clean their wings and started the flying process. It was fascinating to watch. She got them out onto the scaffolding next to the nest (management is getting ready to paint the apartment building). Mom would sit out there with them one at at time and lift their wings with her beak. I love this picture, you can imagine the mom saying, "Come on, go!" and the little one responding, "Do I have to??"

Eventually, both little birds took off. We watched them flutter around for a little while, and then they really took off. A little later, I was standing in the kitchen and one of the little ones flew right into the kitchen window, "Bam!". Sure enough, within a couple of seconds, the other one, "Bam!", right into the kitchen window. It was hilarious (Aubrey, you get your sick sense of humor from your Dad...). Fortunately, both of them fluttered down briefly but then were able to fly off again. Their mom needs to teach them about glass...