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Rescue mission
Mar. 8th, 2023 05:23 pmI've just been climbing on the outside of my mulberry tree. It's not as painful as doing the same with a bougainvillea, but it's close. It feels very, very humid and warm here today, trying to rain but not doing much with it.
I did this because I've just found a baby mourning dove behind my bin when I was about to take bin to the verge. Feathered, thank goodness. It scuttled out and back along the row of fruit trees to the mulberry, reminding me I had heard rustling a day earlier but been unable to spot the cause. So next thing was to try to find the nest. Their nests can sometimes look more like some random clump of leaves and sticks that has just fallen into a branch, but I did find a nest.
No idea if it was the right one but I couldn't see another, except for the one at chest height in another tree which I knew was unoccupied. [These birds are not too bright]. Chest height on me means a cat could access it in one jump and a large dog by standing on its back legs. But whoever built the one in the mulberry tree actually did a good job, thus making me wonder if someone else built it and maybe the doves just borrowed it?!
So then I got to climb my ladder again one handed with baby dove clutched in the other hand. I put it in the nest and it scuttled to the back with no noticeable sign of gratitude.
I figure off the ground is better, whether this is really home or not, and I have seen the adults around today so I'm just hoping they find their chick and sort things out. I've put water in a bowl under the mulberry in case it falls out again. It hopefully learns to fly, because by the fluttering it can't be too far off.
I'm a bit concerned because I know there are mice around - one was watching me during this proceeding - and they can get anywhere, but that was the case before this happened. There's a lot of wildlife around this one tree, which is also where I found my garden gnome rat Ernest, who was more than happy to abandon life in the wild.
I did this because I've just found a baby mourning dove behind my bin when I was about to take bin to the verge. Feathered, thank goodness. It scuttled out and back along the row of fruit trees to the mulberry, reminding me I had heard rustling a day earlier but been unable to spot the cause. So next thing was to try to find the nest. Their nests can sometimes look more like some random clump of leaves and sticks that has just fallen into a branch, but I did find a nest.
No idea if it was the right one but I couldn't see another, except for the one at chest height in another tree which I knew was unoccupied. [These birds are not too bright]. Chest height on me means a cat could access it in one jump and a large dog by standing on its back legs. But whoever built the one in the mulberry tree actually did a good job, thus making me wonder if someone else built it and maybe the doves just borrowed it?!
So then I got to climb my ladder again one handed with baby dove clutched in the other hand. I put it in the nest and it scuttled to the back with no noticeable sign of gratitude.
I figure off the ground is better, whether this is really home or not, and I have seen the adults around today so I'm just hoping they find their chick and sort things out. I've put water in a bowl under the mulberry in case it falls out again. It hopefully learns to fly, because by the fluttering it can't be too far off.
I'm a bit concerned because I know there are mice around - one was watching me during this proceeding - and they can get anywhere, but that was the case before this happened. There's a lot of wildlife around this one tree, which is also where I found my garden gnome rat Ernest, who was more than happy to abandon life in the wild.