Celebrating New Life

While we were on an extended weekend vacation with our children and their families this past weekend, the grandchildren eagerly pointed out a nest with very new little ones on a shelf above the outside front door of the house we were renting. And I for sure enjoyed trying to capture them on "film" over the four days we were there

Two Born Baby Birds in a Nest, Halifax, PA, USA (18-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Parent Robin Finds Food, Halifax, PA, USA (18-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Three Born Baby Birds in a Nest, Halifax, PA, USA (19-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Parent Feeds Baby Birds in a Nest, Halifax, PA, USA (20-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Baby Birds Begin to Get Feathers, Halifax, PA, USA (21-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Somehow the new born babies and their parent seemed to survive the presense of 19 inquisitive people. 

Mourning the Mourning Doves While Celebrating Life

I don't know what went wrong, but on July 13 I noticed that the Mourning Dove was no longer brooding on the nest in one of our hanging baskets of flowers on our front porch. When I investigated, there was one unhatched egg and a broken one. I am guessing that some fatality happened since the squab would not have been old enough to fend on its own by that point in time.

Two Mourning Dove Eggs No Longer Waiting to Hatch (13-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

But just a few days before this, I had stopped our car quickly as we were leaving a hotel in Christiansburg, VA, USA, to capture the bird I saw sitting on the fence. 

Northern Mockingbird, Christiansburg, VA, USA (10-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

I was very pleased with the photo--a Northern Mockingbird that let me get fairly close to it. So wildlife survives and populates even our sterile steel-and-concrete structures. Thank you, God, for the joy of life around us--human and animal and plant. 

Mourning Doves at Home

The pigeons were fine in Phoenix and when we got home the Mourning Doves (eggs, nest, and parents) were fine, too. Here are two photos I took  on Monday.

Two Mourning Dove Eggs Waiting to Hatch (8-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

And one parent is always on the nest. 

Mourning Dove Sitting on the Nest (8-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

If you have bdeen following this blog for awhile, you know that the first photos of the Mourning Dove nesting on two eggs in a hanging flower basket on our front porch was taken on June 28. So how long does it take for the eggs to hatch? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology gives the incubation period as 14 days, so maybe the young ones will show their heads soon. Stay tuned for more updates.

More Pigeons in Phoenix

Elsie and I are now back from our time in Phoenix for the biennial Mennonite Church USA Assembly. Here are two more photos of birds in Phoenix.

Notice that pigeons come in a wide variety of color mixes and shading.

Pigeons in Phoenix, Arizona, USA (1-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Later I was intrigued by one who was checking me out. 

A Pigeon Checks Me Out in Phoenix, Arizona, USA (1-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

By the way, Gordie Shantz, one of my friends who identifies birds for me, suggested that the unknown bird fro my last post was probably a sparrow of some variety.

July 1, 2013

Phoenix Has Birds

My wife Elsie and I are in Phoenix for the biennial Mennonite Church USA Assembly. We arrived last evening, but the first session begins this evening. So we wondered around a few blocks, and I did see some birds.

Of course as a city, Phoenix does have pigeons.

Pigeon in Phoenix, Arizona, USA (1-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

A few block away from the Convention Center in Patriots Park, I captured some photos of a bird I am not sure I know. Do you? Send me your suggestions.

Unknown Bird, Phoenix, AZ, USA  (1-Jul-13; © Richard L. Bowman)

Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to see what else I can find of nature in Phoenix.

--©2013, Richard L. Bowman