The doves brought a new friend home to play this morning. I had just got up and was outside feeding them and the chooks and thought to myself 'There are too many there'. A quick count up revealed seven birds not including Sparky. I ran indoors and grabbed my binoculars for a closer look and found that sure enough there was an extra bird on the bird table. He is smallish, looks quite young and has some dark patches on his head and back, so not quite pure dove but with a bit of feral in there somewhere. I knew that Hairy Hubby wouldn't be too amused that a mixed bird might be joining the flock (he wants them all pure white) so I decided to tell him that the new boy was a bit grubby. Sadly he didn't fall for that one and knew right away that they were darker patches not dirt. Luckily he didn't go too mad about it. I had visions of him running outside scaring the new boy off. It will be interesting to see if he hangs around, the new boy that is, not Hairy.
Sparky seems to be doing well. I heard him squeaking today for the first time. Usually he just sits there quietly but Esme was on the nest so he was probably harassing her fro more food. You can see his back quite well from the ground now he is getting bigger and starting to grow feathers. I reckon another week and he will be pretty much white. I just love Pidgie babies, they are so much fun!
At lunchtime I was thrilled to see Davey (Daisy) collecting nesting material. He and May have been 'doing the do' a lot lately so I was hoping for the patter of tiny claws. My elation was quickly doused when he flew off with the nesting material, over the house and over the road. What a cheek! The little traitors are nesting on the neighbours house! I was gutted. Heartbroken in fact. I should have expected it really but I just prayed they would come home to breed. I suppose really they live over there but just come here to feed and hang out occasionally. I wish there was something I could do to get them to come home. I keep dropping very loud hints to Hairy Hubby about making another dovecote. Maybe if there was an extra one which didn't have the resident Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey breeding in it they would feel more at home. Sadly my very subtle hints ("You need to make another dovecote") went unheard. It seems that The Hairy One is suffering from that deafness which so often occurs at awkward moments like when their other half asks them to do something....
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