One flew over the Coo-coo's nest...

One morning in April we were on our way to take Blake to school and we noticed some twigs and leaves sticking out of the empty hanging pot on our front porch. When we came back, we noticed two Doves hanging around the roof near it. Over the next few days, we noticed them two doves bringing more plants and twigs, and spending more time there, usually with one sitting in the pot/nest and the other perched on the side. They would usually fly away if we got close or came out of the door quickly/made a bunch of noise. After about a week the was ALWAYS one bird in the nest at all times. We realized that they had laid eggs in their make-shift home. The cool thing is that , the birds would take "shifts" sitting on the eggs. They were never left alone for more than a few minutes as the mom and dad birds changed posts.

The two tiny eggs, in the not-so-cozy nest. ONE morning when we went out the parent birds must have been switching posts because it was empty and I ran and got my camera, snapped the pictures, put my camera back inside the house and when I came back out to get the kids in the car, the mom was back!

The Crazy thing is, no matter how close we would get after the eggs were laid, even standing on chairs to peek inside the pot and an air blower blowing the yard wouldn't detract these birds from their parental duties. Even if it meant danger, they would not leave their young. I thought this was very heartwarming and interesting, that they wanted to protect their babies and give them the best chance at surviving as they could.

However, one friend told me that doves are the dumbest birds and are crazy because they don't have the brains to build their nests in safe places and ARE dumb fro building their nest on our front porch and for not flying away when so close to immediate danger. That they are "Coo-Coo" for having done so. I see it differently though. They saw a sturdy "perch" and weren't "dumb" to keep watch over their babies, but brave and vigilant. Isn't that how we should be with our children? Give them every chance possible to survive and be strong and successful no matter what the dangers or obstacles may arise? Sometimes I don't' want to do something because it may be inconvenient or put me out or difficult, but it would benefit my child greatly. And usually those are the things that may not have immediate rewards, but will do volumes in the long run. I hope that I can be like those Dove parents and provide constant watch and protection over my children, especially as they get older, to give them the best chance possible.



How in the world did that big chick come out of that tiny egg?!? And Like Mark said, "the little bird isn't very cute." It wasn't. it had a gnarly lookin beak.

Well, the little bird finally hatched, And, yes, sadly only one. The other egg was a dud. I am tempted to try and find the symbolism in this...that sometimes we may try our hardest as parents and our children still have their free agency and may turn out like duds??! Or is it that we may not know our Heavenly Father's will for us and that's just life? Or was it just waiting for us to eat it for breakfast? I don't know!

AND SADLY, after checking on baby bird this morning before taking Blake to school, I was thinking on the drive, 'Man! Those birds have been here for almost two months! That's a long time!' And would you know it, when we got back, they were gone! :( I kinda feel like a pet has left the family. I hope the little guy does well. Bye-Bye Birdie!Thanks for the memories and learning opportunities, it was great to teach the kids about the life cycle of hatching animals (which went along perfect with the unit Blake was learning in school!) and for the parenting ed! ;)