Yard Work

So the plan was to mow the grass last night.  No big deal.  But there is this branch of a crepe myrtle tree that is always in the way.  So D said, I'm tempted to get the chain saw out and cut it off.  Which she did.  

But since the chain saw was out, and running, we figured we'd get a couple other "branches" in other parts of the yard cut that were also in the way.  

Cutting the branches led to cutting a volunteer tree (or 20) that come up throughout the yard.

And somehow through all of the cutting down of trees, 

we still managed to get the grass cut.  Because, of course, the front little strip 

had to be cut before we could haul the crap down there for trash day.

So we have two VERY LARGE piles of cut trees and bushes.  

The piles of trees were so high, I couldn't see D standing behind them.  

I hope the big debris truck takes them all.

The piles of trees and branches that we hauled to the front for trash day, 

but the pictures don't even begin to do it justice! 

The sad part is, we didn't even make a dent in the amount of stuff we 

needed to cut out of the yard.  We maybe got an 1/8th of it done.  

AMW

The "Underground Railroad" Porch

I feel like our porch is a stop on the underground railroad.  That word is getting out that we're a "safe haven" for birds.

As you have seen, we had a finch nest last year that raised a couple of babies.  This year we had a finch nest, but their efforts were interrupted by a hungry BlueJay.  We had a dove who successfully raised two babies, and now we have ANOTHER dove nest with TWO MORE eggs.  

What???

I don't have any idea if it's the same parents, but it's possible.  It's in a different hanging basket (because they just couldn't go ahead and use the one they've already killed the flowers in), so this will be the third plant that's had a nest this year.  

I've got tons of pics of the first set of dove babies and now of the new nest.  So here ya go...

This picture is not of the parents, but of 

the babies a day before they flew away!

And here they are again, getting ready to go!

This is the empty nest after they flew away. 

Notice that ALL of the flowers are DEAD!

Here is one of our babies hanging out on the gate.

Baby hanging on the gate..

And this is one of our other hanging baskets that is about

to have all the flowers die, as there is another dove nest here.

And here are the two new eggs!  Nice and green

for now, but it the flowers will die soon enough.

We don't water the flowers with the momma on the nest.

AMW

And then there were none...

The babies have flown! 

Last night, we had some terrible storms.  Vicious wind, thunder and lightning, and driving rains.  I wasn't sure if the baby doves would make it in the nest through the night...

I've been watching them the last few days flapping their wings and getting air in the nest.  I knew it wouldn't be long.  I even figured by this weekend.  Yesterday, they were on the edge of the nest, and watching mamma who was on the porch.  Thought they might take the leap then, but they didn't.

This morning, D was having her coffee in her office, and looked to see if they were still there, and they were.  Standing on the edge, peering out into the world.  She got in the shower, and when she came out, they were gone.  That quick.  She said she saw two doves that were trying to land in a nearby tree, but were a bit clumsy...  Must be our babies.  While they had practiced flapping, they hadn't had any way to practice landing.

So now the nest is empty.  

Pictures to follow later....

AMW

Dove Update

I was right in the fact that there are two babies.  I have probably underestimated their age, as they are quite bigger than I thought.  The momma and daddy are on the nest minimally now, and yesterday, I caught the two babies flapping their wings, practicing.  One of them was getting pretty good air!

Here are two of the best pictures, taken a few days apart, and you can certainly tell a sharp difference even in the couple of days.  My guess is they will be gone this week...

Taken over the weekend.

Taken yesterday.

AMW

Dove Nest

This is our dove momma (or maybe daddy).  This is a stark contrast to the finch nest that was in our fern...  

For one thing, the finches would fly out of the nest as soon as we open the front door.  This allowed us to be able to monitor the eggs, but also made us almost feel like we couldn't use the porch.  We limited our time outside to small intervals so that she could sit on her nest.

The doves, on the other hand, never leave.  When we open the door, she (or he) hunker down so we can't see them.  Or so they think.  One of them is ALWAYS on the nest.   I hear they rotate out in about 12 hour shifts.  Only once have I seen two on there at once.

Yesterday, I was peering through the office window (she didn't see me), and I caught her feeding babies!  I'm pretty sure there were two, but I can't be sure.  I didn't dare move or breath for fear that she would stop and hunker down again...

So, we do have babies!!  I'm gonna try my darnedest over the next couple of weeks to get some pictures of them...

AMW

No new news...

Nothing much really new here.  We still have a pair of doves nesting in one of our hanging baskets, but they are not bothered by us, and will just sit up there the entire time we are out there.  Don't know how many eggs there might be, but I imagine we'll get to see once they hatch and start feeding the babies.

I was finally told that this previously unknown plant was probably in the philodendron family.  You may remember it from THIS post.  

It started out with just two leaves, then grew, made it through the winter, and even had new growth on it.

 

Last week, it died.  I have no idea what I did to it.  The picture above was taken about two days before it's demise...

The evenings on the porch are lovely.  We've got citronella candles out to keep the bugs at bay, and the neighborhood is a-buzz with folks walking, biking, and just generally being outside.  It smells good, there's usually a breeze, and the wind-chimes provide a nice relaxing sound.  The birds help too.  They are very active in the evenings.

Thanks for stopping by!  Feel free to leave us a comment to let us know you were hanging out on our porch with us...

AMW