One a dove, the other a blackbird.
I saw a dove in the trees yesterday, so I had a total of thirteen in view at once, but the one in the trees did not come down to join the twelve on the ground. It seemed nervous of me, despite seeing that the others were constantly flying to my hands and pecking about at my feet. But today it came down out of the tree and perched on the edge of the roof, then finally decided to come down. It was still nervous, and went up and down between the ground and the roof of this building for a while till it became more accustomed to me and realised that the tossing movements of my hand meant food, then it stayed down, although it kept rather to the edge of the group.
So again there were twelve here, but not the same twelve as yesterday.
The arrival of the second blackbird chick was not a surprise, because I had seen its mother flying off somewhere at the same time as the father was feeding the other one, the one that can now feed itself. The second is smaller than its sibling, and not as advanced in its feeding. But both chicks, because that is all they have even known, are much more comfortable with the doves than their father (and with me). They are a little wary of them,, because they are bigger and inclined to be possessive about their food, but the first blackbird chick generally will feed close to a group as if he belonged and the second one is becoming the same.
I hope the blackbird chicks, and their mother, will become as tame as the female blackbird that I used to call Mrs Friendly, the one who ate cheese from my hand for many years. She was the mate of the male who has fathered the two chicks this season. He was much younger than her, and blackbirds mate for life, so her first mate must have died, so she continued with the new, younger one, then earlier this year she must also have died. Otherwise she would have responded to my whistle, as he still does. But she has not responded to it for many, she did not have chicks last season, although she normally had two clutches, and her former mate has a new mate (I assume a much younger one), so that must be the sad explanation. I miss her. She was truly a wild bird made tame.
Her mate also took cheese from my hand, but not nearly as readily and has not done it for some time. Perhaps I shall tame the whole family. The difficulty will be feeding them without the doves noticing. with them about, some cheese in the hand means that no other creature can get near. They are all over it in a trice.
I saw a dove in the trees yesterday, so I had a total of thirteen in view at once, but the one in the trees did not come down to join the twelve on the ground. It seemed nervous of me, despite seeing that the others were constantly flying to my hands and pecking about at my feet. But today it came down out of the tree and perched on the edge of the roof, then finally decided to come down. It was still nervous, and went up and down between the ground and the roof of this building for a while till it became more accustomed to me and realised that the tossing movements of my hand meant food, then it stayed down, although it kept rather to the edge of the group.
So again there were twelve here, but not the same twelve as yesterday.
The arrival of the second blackbird chick was not a surprise, because I had seen its mother flying off somewhere at the same time as the father was feeding the other one, the one that can now feed itself. The second is smaller than its sibling, and not as advanced in its feeding. But both chicks, because that is all they have even known, are much more comfortable with the doves than their father (and with me). They are a little wary of them,, because they are bigger and inclined to be possessive about their food, but the first blackbird chick generally will feed close to a group as if he belonged and the second one is becoming the same.
I hope the blackbird chicks, and their mother, will become as tame as the female blackbird that I used to call Mrs Friendly, the one who ate cheese from my hand for many years. She was the mate of the male who has fathered the two chicks this season. He was much younger than her, and blackbirds mate for life, so her first mate must have died, so she continued with the new, younger one, then earlier this year she must also have died. Otherwise she would have responded to my whistle, as he still does. But she has not responded to it for many, she did not have chicks last season, although she normally had two clutches, and her former mate has a new mate (I assume a much younger one), so that must be the sad explanation. I miss her. She was truly a wild bird made tame.
Her mate also took cheese from my hand, but not nearly as readily and has not done it for some time. Perhaps I shall tame the whole family. The difficulty will be feeding them without the doves noticing. with them about, some cheese in the hand means that no other creature can get near. They are all over it in a trice.
