Doves ... Double trouble

Lovely Amy. I had a robin nesting in pots that I can only now move as they left yesterday.

How lovely! These must be the young ones then Amy? I had a mother blackbird feeding her chick today and I had to keep the dogs away from her. Not easy!

So sweet,Amy..you are going to miss watching them,or do they stay in the same area ? I have no idea if they go elsewhere,or not..I wish we could see them nesting here....xx

Thats nice T.side it feels special when they choose your garden as a nesting site .. :o)
Yes these are the youngsters Karen I watched Mum feeding them today., the parents always stay in this garden Sandra they nest in the same place under the Wisteria every year , they are very friendly also the young ones are all ready use to me chatting to them ,they don't answer back either Lol .. I'm not sure if the young will be made to leave the area or not I wish I could colour mark them to keep a track on them ..

Wow they are big I did nt expect them to be so big so soon . If you feed them they should stay I had 2 Turtle doves back in the 80s I kept them in my out house let them roam free during the day I just threw seed out for them had no trouble with them coming in to be locked up for the night so cats did nt get them.

They look about ready to fly off. Very rewarding to see them grow up.

We had a similar experience 3P when our son was a teenager he brought home a collared dove he found it on the ground ,I didn't think it stood a chance it was almost naked of feathers but the look on my sons face made me persevere I fed it on a weak solution of porridge mixture it was tough for a few days until it began to take it in he thrived living in a box in our kitchen he then started to sit on the edge of the box and then one day it flew round the kitchen , I knew we couldn't go on like that I had a word with son and said we must leave the door open if it wants to go it will , it started off by flying out during the day always returning in the evening it was funny as it would always sit on one of our heads almost as though it was looking for its nest , towards the end of the summer we were sitting outside when it came flying in he sat on my shoulder and then my lap it seemed different I somehow knew it was saying its goodbyes , it left the next morning we never saw it again ,I would like to think it flew away to warmer climes for the winter ... .
They're sitting out on the branch this morning Paul ,they'll be off soon ...

What a lovely story Amy its nice to know your son cared what happened to the dove and bought it home for you to make it well again at least we know there are children out there who care for animals.
I hope the dove did find a warmer climate and its lovely to know it said its good bye to you yes you can tell the difference of their actions perhaps it found it self a mate.☺
I hope your two new ones find a safe place .

Our son is a great nature and bird lover 3p ,he takes his sons camping a lot at weekends to learn about nature as well ...
They will be coming here for a holiday in a couple of weeks time I'm afraid they will miss seeing the doves... I hope the little ones survive we have so many cats roaming across our garden ...

Thats lovely your son is a great nature lover and takes his boys camping to learn about nature I use to love camping people are more sociable thats all we had when kids.

Shame they will all miss the seeing the doves. Yes cats can be such a problem I have the same here they cut through my garden to get to the grave yard over my fence so every cat in the neighbourhood cuts through my garden.

The cats use the soft soil in the veg. garden as a giant toilet 3p ,its not nice , I'm sure the whole of the neighbourhood cats use it we see them jumping the fences one after another they didn't do it when we had a dog or our own cat ...

Have you tried filling large clear bottle of water filled full on its side around where they go Amy also throw washing powder over where you ve picked up their mess a vet once said on radio dont use bleach as it has ammonia which attracts the cats back .

Thats such a lovely story Amy. Cheered me up on a very wet day! :)

Thanks for that 3p ,they don't go in any one place they go anywhere and everywhere ... I wonder what the bottle of water does to put them off , my OH has a children water pistol but is never able to 'shoot' them with it Lol ...

A nurse I use to work for laughed when her Irish mother in law told her to put the botyles of water down but she did try it and was amazed it worked I am not sure if they see their own reflection or animals who get rabies have a fear of water so I am unsure if its built in their breed to fear water.

The only other things that do work is sticks stuck into the ground around your plants or ground or Lion dung or set a motion sprinkler up.

The motion sprinkler is supposed to be pretty successful, it dealt with the problem of wild cats in one area.
You'd have to turn it off if you were in range though.

Thanks Karen ,it was actually quite an emotional time to see the little thing so trusting of us ...
I couldn't do that 3p our garden is too big to go round every plant we have half an acre and I'm afraid I haven't seen any Lions recently if we had perhaps they would scare the cats off .. Lol ... if they start digging up my Saffron bed again .. I will try a bottle of water.....
Same problem Mari you would only be able to do one small area at a time ... x

Lol Amy of course you would nt see lions ? people I know get there s from the local zoo. Yes having so much land I think the bottles are the best.

They've gone they flew today I shall miss them :o(

Awe thats a shame but good they ve survived Amy I am sure uou will miss them so will we . May be one will return to your garden to lay their eggs ☺

The jet sprayer deterrent on Amazon has a fair range,
says

Range of up to 10m in a 120 degree arc
This cat deterrent covers an area of at least 100sqm

Same thing happened to me Amy with my Mockingbirds. The chicks would peep, peep peep all day long as mama desperately flew about catching worms & spiders to feed them - so much activity going on. Now it just silent, just an empty nest is left.

Thanks for that Mari :o) , we are like surrogate parents Paul and are suffering the empty nest syndrome Lol

I know just how you feel, Amy. Tom & I were watching a nest of blue-tits, we had a camera inside & could watch on a screen indoors. It was so engaging watching the parents feeding the young, then one evening the parents never came back. It was so upsetting.
We had joined the BBS & according to them not all nests are successful & some are abandoned. For days all was doom & gloom around here.

Once as I was mowing my lawn, I found a brown paper sack in the middle of my lawn. Inside was a nest of 3 perfectly healthy baby robins that some idiot put there. What you said is true Amy. I turned over my entire back yard looking for worms to feed them. They need water too. They have a voracious appetite and must eat every 20 minutes or they could actually starve to death. I got 2 cartons of giant earthworms from a nearby tackle shop and that was enough to take them to independence. 1 didn't make it, but 2 suddenly flew off. That was the whole point but even so, it's a little depressing

How lovely for you to be able to sit in comfort watching your brood Mari I often wonder how many young are left to die especially after seeing the cats stalking them in our garden , Thats so cruel Paul I'm glad you were able to save two only this week I read in the newspaper where a group of kids were seen to be kicking a nest of young birds up the street like a football for fun ,what is wrong with them ?.. we regularly dig patches of soil up just to see which birds arrive first , they must watch every move we make Lol ...

How wonderful that you had that saga unfold before your eyes. I hope they do come back.
I had a very interesting time with Jack Sparrow, back in the town garden...think it was 2009. I thought an old decrepit birdhouse was empty and took it down only to find a nest with two barely fledged young sparrows. I left them as long as I could hoping the parents would find them...but no luck. Ended up digging worms, and making bread pudding... Jacky and his brother flew one sunny morning and I never saw them again... I think I had a visit from Jacky the next spring... he dropped down out of nowhere to sit at the patio door. I put breadcrumbs on the floor inside and slooowly opened the door. He hopped over the sill, ate a few crumbs and just flew away. He was a sweet fellow. Amazing how a little fluff of feathers has such warmth in their breast... darling little creatures with a tenacious will to live.
All the best to them... I'm sure they were thinking: "Thank you Mrs. M!"

Thats a lovely heart warming story Lori , you were probably right in thinking it was Jacky paying you a 'Thank you ' visit , I'm sure they do remember kindness paid to them ,you were their Mummy figure for a long time .. it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when something like that happens, you know in your heart you've helped a beautiful tiny creature on its journey through life ..

yep!... warm and fuzzy. xo