Mourning Dove

I am an absolute HUGE fan of "happening" upon nature. Of course I am far occupied with my time that to become some nature seeker, HOWEVER-- This was at the front entry way of our Texas home. 

I went to trim the Jasmine Ivy on the trellis and I found a nest!! 

Of course when I first discovered this, all that occupied the nest was Mama, Mourning Dove. And we named her exactly that. Mourning Mama. 

The boys and I watched her through out the day for several days before we actually found two eggs. (Not sure where those photos are)

And then, one hatched! 

Oh, how ugly the baby bird was, all fuzzy and matted up fluff. And it was neat that the boys had so many questions about, "why can't the baby hold it's neck up except to eat,  and what else does a mama feed the baby?"... etc... 

Now this was interesting to watch, she "squished" the babies most of the time when she sat on them. Perhaps because we came around and she felt the necessity to "protect" her young. It did NOT look comfortable to the babies. 

And here they are with their feathers! Still quite ugly. I am not much of an Ornithologist, but google is a great source that has helped us identify the type of bird, just not the sex of the birds. 

Boys? Girls? One of each? Who knows!  The only thing we didn't do was name them. We couldn't figure out who would be who. So we called them Bird 1 and Bird 2. 

This nest is getting a wee bit crowded!! 

Nearing the last day of the birds in their home (unbeknownst to us) we loved watching them. And every time we would walk by they would follow us with their heads. From egg to flying, it was very pleasurable.

And then they left. To fly about the skies to find their own. We continued watching the nest for a few days and realized it was the reminisce of bird droppings attached to the brick and nest. 

Very cool experience!