Saturday 18 April 2009

Name the Babies Competition

Happy Step-Families! This is widowed Hope, with her new mate Pascoe, and her two babies inside the nest-box.

Saturday 18th April '09

Hope and Glory's squabs are now 30 and 29 days old and I think it's time to name them. If you want to skip my updating waffle then just scroll down to the Naming Competition part!

Hope has been leaving them since they were two weeks old and I have taken them into the house every night, partly to keep them warm and partly to keep them safe from predators in the very early morning. In the past my parent doves have slept in the dovecote and would have been 'on guard' but Hope is entirely feral and only here because Glory (now dead) chose it as a suitable nesting site, and as she now has a new mate, Pascoe, she has been leaving them and no doubt spending the night with him! I have no idea where the doves all go at night, but there are lots of barns on the farm and nearby farms.

In the beginning I kept the squabs in the kitchen near the aga to keep them warm, but the last few nights have been putting their nursery box in the conservatory to harden them off a little!

Hope has been spending some time each day on the hedge, looking up at the nestbox, maybe in an attempt to encourage them out. I believe pigeon (dove) squabs fledge at about 30-40 days so shouldn't be long. We are going away in 11 days time so I hope they hurry up and do it before we go! This is important as they will need help to get back up into the dovecote at night until they can fly.

When the doves were away this afternoon, I took each baby out of the dovecote and put it on the grass (for no longer than a minute) to let them see the world beyond their little dark and smelly space! After four weeks in the nest the nestbox is rather unpleasant - although I do do a bit of pooper-scooping, and as they spend the night in the nursery box that does help reduce the mess in the dovecote. The smallest one came out first and seemed quite at home, looking around calmly. The doves came back to the roof just after I'd taken photos of the largest one, so I quickly tried to catch him to put him back before Hope noticed but he fluttered and flapped about the grass so fast that I could hardly catch him!







Smallest one looks around and then hops up onto the stepladder - I am impressed!






This is the largest one - see the yellow down, punk style, still on his head.

Naming Competition

I have decided on a name for the largest, and I presume the oldest, of the two squabs. He (or she - it is extremely difficult to sex pigeons until they are old enough to display characteristic male or female behaviour) is going to be called Victory. He is the one with pink colouring on his tail, on the right in the photo.

So your task is to name the other one! You can choose a male or female name, or just a lovely or suitable word, but it has to go well with Victory.

These are the actual shells that these squabs hatched from.

This baby will be ringed with a purple ring (of course, as it is a Purplecoo baby) and Victory will have a pink one.

You can choose up to 10 names each, and the competition is open to anyone who reads my blog, including children.

No favouritism, I will just choose the name I like best.

The prize will be your choice of a bouquet of flowers, or some lovely chocolates, or a surprise! So you will have to be prepared to give me your address so that I can send it to you. You have a week to think about it as the Closing date is Saturday 25th April '09 at 10pm.

I am looking forward to seeing your suggestions, and thank you in advance.
The End
(You may have to scroll down a bit for the comments section)
























25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Faith, lovely pictures as always. I can just imagine the baby doves having their first taste of the outside world, I wonder if they sometimes think you're their mummy, like the lambs often think I am theirs!

A few names as follows:

Beauteous (or Beau for short)
Majesty
Bliss

I'm not very good at thinking up names but that's a few to be going on with.

CJ xx

Wizzard said...

Honour

Wx

CAMILLA said...

Dear Faith,

Such gorgeous photo's Doves.

Here is five which you may like or perhaps one of them, best of luck with chosen name Faith.

GRACE
ESTHER
SERENITY
PATIENCE
CHERISH

XX

ArtSparker said...

Jaws?

or maybe Nelson(after the admiral).

I'm going to presume on the acquaintance. If you position the cursor not on, but in front of what you last posted and hit delete, the extra line spaces will be absorbed. You can do this at the end of a post if you have extra space, just put the cursor below the last line and keep deleting till you've picked up the dropped stitches.

Puffin said...

Such cute little ones=
Getting on the ladder-how smart.
Names-
Peace
Pearl
Little Coo
Dew Drop
Honor

DJ Kirkby said...

Hi
I am so in love with the babies! Made my day :) There are so many good names down already that I will just mention a few favourites fromt hose: Beau, Honour, Seren (from serenity, little Coo. I came by to say you won WW last week.

arosebyanyothername said...

I have so enjoyed this saga about your doves - I hope it continues for a while longer.

I name your baby - FORTUNE

TIGGYWINKLE said...

I would like to call the baby Faith, because the Mum is Hope, and I think your belief, love and devotion pulled them through.

Rustic Pumpkin said...

I am amazed at how the 'babies' don't look like babies any longer. They are so 'grown up' now! And getting more and more handsome daily.

The names I shall offer are:
Valiant
Victoria

Fennie said...

Before I saw your note about Victory the name of Captain Beaky popped into my mind. (Actually the first thing ws Dave, Dee, Dosy, Beaky, Mick and Titch) but Captain Beaky would be better (if it's a boy squab at least).

If you were facetious you could call the squab Vic Labour to go with Vic Tory or even just Vicky.

You could call it HMS, or still with a nautical theme Agamemnon - Nelson's first ship of the line.

Parade might go well with Victory.

I'll have another think.

Fxx

Lee said...

My entry to the naming competition is;


Endeavor.


My reasoning is that (like these two chicks) one follows the other, Victory following Endeavor (one hopes). They are also connected by the fact that they are both ships in the Royal Navy.

Lee.

Zoë said...

Haven't they grown!

Here are some girls names:

Constance

Eva (Greek version of the Hebrew for 'Life', Greek version is Zoë)

Timo (feminine form of the Greek name Timon meaning honour)



and and these are for boys:

Timon (see above)

Abrax ( meaning 'shining one')

Faith said...

Lovely names everyone and please keep them coming! The closing date is not til next Sat. 10pm

Elizabethd said...

They are so sweet.
I submit the name 'Purity'.

Fennie said...

Am I allowed a second 'go?' I've thought (see above) only to find that Puffin has got there before me - well not quite the same but almost. I was thinking of Coo - plain and simple. Because if you scramble P Coo (as in Purple Coo) you get Coop. What flies away from the coop must therefore be Coo. (Leaving P behind - well you did say that the dovecote was smelly) And Coo of course is what the bird will do when he or she grows up. You could also talk of a Victory Coup (at a pinch)! So there you are - my choice for a name is Coo, just by itself.

Exmoorjane said...

Like Endeavour to go with Victory -or could be naughty and suggest Defeat!

I'm rubbish at names - whenever we have pets we always end up renaming them as the initial ones are so pathetic. Glad they made it though....

Pondside said...

Not good at this sort of thing, Faith, which is why my children have family names!
Here goes.....
Joy
Primula
Salvation (Sally)
Pearl
Endurance
Paz

Jude said...

I know it's not going to win but I really think after all your attention and duty, it should be called Faith.
What about Peace?
Jude

Pipany said...

Here we go Faith; some names suggested by the children and me (I'll leave it to your imagination which were chosen by me!:

Snowdrop
Triumph
Pax
Pretty Dove (Isabella quelle suprise!)
Seraphim
Alba
Talullah
Tinkle

Bear in mind we have a duck called Mustang and it all becomes clear! Think Fennie's Coo should win just for sheer ingenuity. x

Chris Stovell said...

Lucia/Luce because the new baby dove has brought a little light into your life.
(Ps - aren't you knowledgeable about birds? I think they were Dunnock eggs)

arosebyanyothername said...

Well, if Fennie can have two goes - so can I.

How about SPRING or even SUMMER

Faith said...

Thanks everyone for all the lovely names. Rosie, you can have up to 10 goes each, it says so on the blog!

Jane Le Galloudec said...

I had no idea dove's were so interesting. I have enjoyed reading your blog and many thanks for your comments on mine... I have not posted about the steam engine yet... but you are not the first to ask so I will... soon. Ah... the only name I can think of that might work is Glory ... my husband says March and my daughter says Fluffy (!).

Faith said...

These were emailed to me by Jane Grey so I have transferred them to my blog.



Dear Faith

Here are my official entries for the baby-naming contest for your smaller dove squab.

1. Valory - means strength and valor, and I love "Victory and Valory"

2. Verity - means "truth"

3. Charity - a natural after Faith and Hope!

4. Honor - what is Victory without Honor?

5. Honorée - the feminine form of Honor in French

6. Honory - a version of Honoree to rhyme with Victory

7. Grace - in keeping with Spirit, Faith and Hope

8. Blanche ("white" in French)

9. Zilla

10. Gloria - in honor and memory of the squab's father

Calico Kate said...

Oh I am so late!
Many of the names I had ben thinking about are already listed too! :(
A silly - 'Yrotciv' - pronounced Irotsive....Victory backwards!

'Excelsis' or 'Excel' (As in Gloria in...)

'Columbine or Columba' (I've been doing my homework!)

'Cailean' pronounced Kaylin (Gaelic for Dove)

Then a very tenuous one..
'Dorothy or Dodo' (Doves are possib;y related to the Dodo we have a cat called Dorothy also called Dodo!)

Just got in under the wire!
CKx