Home Sweet Home

Much to the delight of our children, a pair of mourning doves have built a nest in a (much neglected) flower pot on our deck (nobody will accuse me of having a green thumb). It took a few days for them to complete their modest construction job (not really much of a nest - more like a little mat of woven twigs to lay the eggs on), but now they're so used to us going in and out of the door, that we can get within a couple feet of them without frightening them off.

The avian parents-to-be have produced one egg so far (I understand mourning dove clutches average two, so we're on the lookout for more). Our daughter has decided this one looks like a boy egg and has decreed that the chick will be named Joe. Mommy bird has been named Alisa. Dad has inexplicably been left out of the name game. I'll have to talk to our daughter about that. You'd think with a stay-at-home dad of her own, she'd be more sensitive to the male parent.

;-)