So Outside Of Our House We Have A Couple Of Trees, And Occasionally Doves Will Make Their Nests In Them.

So outside of our house we have a couple of trees, and occasionally doves will make their nests in them. About 10 years ago, some mother dove had nested in one of the trees, and when we went outside to go to school and work, we noticed that the nest had fallen of the tree, and the two baby chicks were just,,, laying on the ground. So my dad took a small basket, nailed it to the tree, and put the nest back in. He then scooped the chicks up ever so gently and placed them in their new, secure, nest.

Both of the babies lived, and every year a mother dove will come to roost in the secure nest my dad built. We like to think the new dove is the baby of the old dove, coming to live in the family nest.

So this year, as usual, a mother dove comes to incubate her eggs in the nest. However, this year has been particularly rough and the tree has not grown leaves yet and there is minimal shelter for the bird. It's also been very rainy and cold.

So every morning my dad, this strong, tough, jaded man, goes put to check on the dove and talks to her. Things like,

"Ya made it through the night huh? I know there's not a lot of cover for ya," "It was extra rainy, but yer still doin a good job hun," "I bet yer babies'll be big and strong,"

And it is the sweetest thing to see my dad talk to these birds every morning