Mourning dove in the late afternoon

[Mousetoescamper]

Taken this afternoon from my back deck.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Beautiful! Great composition & colors too.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. Thanks, Peggy!

[BigmanPigman]

3. I had two doves in my back area

and I was watching them take turns building the nest, keeping eggs warm and bringing food for over 2 weeks then one day the nest was on the ground and the eggshells smashed and empty. I didn't know what animal would do this in a city. I thought maybe a cat but my family said Black birds/Crows do that.

They came back about 2 months later and something else scared them off when they started building a new nest. We have tons of Crows around here. The poor Doves don't stand a chance.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. Isn't that just so disheartening?

I had that same experience of watching a cardinal couple build a nest right outside my kitchen window. I saw them sitting on the eggs, and one day they hatched. It was so exciting. I saw fuzzy little balls with beaks open wide. Then and then one day all of it was gone except for the nest and a few downy feathers and some eggshell fragments. 😢

Mousetoescamper, your photo in the late afternoon sun is gorgeous.

[BigmanPigman]

5. That's exactly what I saw.

I tried so hard not to bother them, keeping my door closed and peaking through a 1/4" crack. I even went outside and tried to put their nest back up in the tree, hoping it would bring them back to try again.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. I hope your birds come back.

Mine never did. The nest is still there after 2 years.

We had a hard rain storm at one point and that little bird mama sat out there keeping her eggs warm and dry throughout …..

[BigmanPigman]

7. Yes, they did start to come back and they were getting

prepared but something alarming scared them off. They are pretty smart I guess. I even tried to lure them back by imitated cooing sounds when I heard them. It doesn't work.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. That's a shame. I'm sorry.

It’s not a very good picture, but here is my little bird mama.

[BigmanPigman]

10. So cute!!!

[Deuxcents]

9. Dove giving you the eye 😎

[Mousetoescamper]

11. Ha! I sometimes have to wait minutes before perched birds look into the lens.

[George McGovern]

12. Very nice Mousetoescamper!

[Mousetoescamper]

13. Thanks, George