DOVELY MULTIPLICATION

When the doves first came to my part of this great forest about three years ago, there were eight. They multiplied; most stayed, some went elsewhere, a few fell ill and died, and BigFeet2 was murdered. As the numbers in my forest grew so did the size of the flight that came down at breakfast-time, until this morning for the first time there were twenty-seven. A glorious sea of twenty-seven white bodies, twenty-seven white tails and fifty-four white wings all round me. :-)))

There were, I think, twenty-six for the first time on the 9th of March, but they move about so fast at breakfast-time that they can be very difficult to count, so there may have been only twenty-five. But there were definitely twenty-six on the afternoon of the 14th, and again at breakfast-time yesterday (the 15th).

As I write this at ten o'clock on this Saturday morning, LightFeet, the dove-widow of BigFeet2, is having her after-breakfast snooze on a high shelf above my office desk. RedFeet and VeeLegs were in earlier but they left about half an hour ago. RedFeet is eating like a horse nowadays, but her mate DarkFeet has not been in for some time, so perhaps he's sitting on their nest and she's eating enough for him and a chick or chicks. I've lost count of the number of chicks who've been born this summer in the first and second clutches, but there have been at least seven.

Two days later, on Monday the 18th of March, there was yet another new chick wailing away at breakfast time, and nuzzling my hand as if I were its Mum but not having the least idea what to do with the food in it. So that makes at least twenty-eight and at least eight chicks this season. I wonder if the latest chick is the reason why RedFeet is eating so much.

LONELY DOVE

LightFeet, the widow-dove of murdered BigFeet2, now spends a lot of time in my office. They were a very close pair, so I expect she is looking to me for the company she misses since he was taken out of the world. She likes to wait on the porch and come inside in the mornings, just as he used to, or in the afternoon if she did not manage that. She eats then settles down on a high shelf for a long semi-snooze, as he did. She always did spend quite a lot of time in here, often in company with her beloved mate, but now she spends noticeably more.

Her behaviour towards me has changed in an interesting way, in that there are times when I am offering her food when she quivers her wings just as chicks do towards a parent when they want to be fed. Perhaps she thinks I'm her Daddy. ;-)

She's going through her annual moult at the moment, so she looks rather moth-eaten, not photogenic, and like all the birds going through that she is eating more. New feathers have to be made, so more food is needed.

REACTION TO THE WING-FRIENDS

Another reader's reaction to  The Wing-Friends:

'I have recently started reading the book and I am enthralled by it. There is such magic and purity to be found in the story. Just after reading a few pages, I am convinced that the mystical and magnificent realm of the Pegasus is indeed for real which the innocent, kindhearted and the brave little Thomas discovers one spring morning as he sets out in search of adventure.

'For those of you who have a taste for fiction and have dreamed of majestic flying horses that legend has so often spoken of, their existence and purpose, I would strongly recommend The Wing Friends by +Nobilangelo Ceramalus. An absolutely captivating read.'  -- Krishnaa R.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wing-Friends-Nobilangelo-Ceramalus/dp/146814488X

THE WING-FRIENDS REVIEWED

A multilingual teacher of language in India who recently read The Wing-Friends has written a glowing review of it on Google Plus , for which I am extremely grateful. It is a book I wrote many years ago, and it has always had a special place in my heart. I'm very glad she enjoyed it so much and found so much value in it. I hope others will too. This is what she said:

Hullo, Plussers! :-)
I am eager to share with you a precious treasure. Ever since I was a child I have been mesmerized by the beauty, power and dramatic grace of a Pegasus, and dreamed of riding on one, of soaring across the sky to a very special place. Well, last night my wish was granted, and it was soul-restoring.

A magical tale titled The Wing-Friends by our very own +Nobilangelo Ceramalus  transported me back to Innocence, to the magical land of Erendor. I was filled with enchantment and cried happy tears all through it. The beautiful home of the Pegasi imbued me with its serenity and helped resuscitate a part of myself that I had thought was smothered by the infinite weariness of the world. It has been a healing experience, one I want to share with everyone.

The author's reverence for language is reflected in every beautifully-crafted phrase. He has kindly allowed me to share with you a picture of the front and back covers of the book.

Thank you, dear sir, for this wonderful gift--"it goes to the heart and speaks words of truth." I am sure it will fill everyone who truly appreciates it "with an awful joy".

P.S. Google the full title and author if you want to add a copy to your library, or go straight here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wing-Friends-Nobilangelo-Ceramalus/dp/146814488X

LATE CHICKS

On Monday the 4th of March, to my surprise, because it is late summer, a new chick appeared at breakfast-time. It must have fallen from the nest or fluttered down, because as you can see from the photos taken that morning its fledging is far from complete. Under its wings there are no feathers, only pink skin, and its tail is just a little stump. There was a little thump on the roof during the night then some small footsteps--probably that bird.

So like the last one it has to spend the nights on the ground, and like the other one it chose to creep under the building. (The earlier one took about ten days to overcome its fear of flying and be going up into the trees to roost at night.)

The latest one ran about wailing and flapping its wings at every other bird in an effort to be fed. It must have found its parents because it settled down, and a few days later it is obviously growing.

On Wednesday it was even making some attempt to peck up food from the ground, so it is learning to feed itself very fast. At first it was managing only microscopic bits of rolled oats, but on Thursday it was getting full-size flakes--wailing all the time at the ground as that were its Mum or Dad, as chicks do.

On Friday the 8th, the day after first posting this, a second chick emerged from under the building at breakfast-time (there had been another small thump on the roof during the night). The two were very close, so are obviously siblings. The newest one is better fledged than the one in the photos, but has yet to get over its timidity towards me.

Many of the adult doves are looking rather moth-eaten at the moment because they are moulting, which is another reason why I'm surprised to see chicks appearing now. Perhaps the extended drought we are having on Waiheke (and much of New Zealand) has made for a longer breeding-season. The local paper said it's been the driest January-February on Waiheke Island since records began in 1914.  We had only 5mm of rain in January and 13mm in February.

The breakfast-time total at the moment is about two dozen doves descending upon me when I go out in the mornings. That is always an experience, no matter how often it has happened: a flight of white birds flying down eagerly from the tall trees like so many angels as soon as I open the door. Twenty-three or twenty-four adult birds and chicks from earlier in the season, and the two newest chicks. This morning (Saturday the 9th) there were twenty-five or twenty-six altogether.