Wonderful News + A Rescue - Part II

Monday 6th June 2011 - Again Flash and Omo were in and out of the cote all morning. Flash bringing so many bits of twig and leaf that the cote appeared full up, and bits of stuff were poking out. Later in the afternoon Omo didnt seem to be around and I saw Flash mate with Jose on three different occasions - and I promise you I am not watching them all the time!

By 7.20pm the others had gone again and I put Jose in the cote. I can usually tell if the doves are leaving for the night rather than just going off for a fly round, and of course it depends on the light and weather conditions as to the time they leave my garden.

Tuesday 7th June - I took Jose out of the cote at 4.45am, put her safe in the hutch and went back to bed myself. By 7am when I was up again Flash and Omo were at the cote. Again they were in and out all day and more nesting material was brought.

Flash and Omo kissing

Flash makes his intentions clear!

Flash prepares to mount Omo

Mating only last a few seconds



And then it's over!

Still Tue 7th - My husband has a workshop on the farm. About 9am he rang me and asked 'Do you want to look after a baby crow?'... 'Oh yes!' I said. 'You'll have to wash it' he replied 'It's fallen into oil - I'll bring it round'. I was still in my dressing gown but no time to get dressed, and I rushed to get a plastic pinny n and find a washing up bowl and some old towels. Hubby turned up with the bedraggled little scrap wrapped in a grimy workshop towel. 'It's a jackdaw, not a crow' he said. He handed me the wrapped bird, suggesting that I apply the washing up liquid straight to its feathers, rather than dilute it in water. I did this as best as I could, rinsing it in the bowl of water (blood temperature - well my blood temperature, I hoped it was ok for the bird). It took about six washes and rinses before I felt the oil was off and the water ran reasonably clean. The bird struggled a little but I didnt have time to worry about it, I just got on the with job, trying to be as delicate and careful as possible. For some reason it reminded me of washing lace! Then I grabbed the camera and took a couple of quick shots for my blog.

My husband had suggested that I put the jackdaw to dry in the sun - in the dog box. Although it was early in the day it was very warm, but the bird was shivering uncontrollably and after a few seconds, I scooped it back into the towel again and tucked it under my arm while I collected my hairdrayer and put the 'snugglesafe' microwave hot pad into the microwave to heat up. I felt it was very important that I warm it up as quickly as possible if it was going to survive. I took him into the conservatory which was very warm and gently dried him a little with the hairdryer on the lowest setting. Then I put the snugglesafe in the dog box, wrapped in a towel of course, and put the baby on top of it. Whew! I was now able to take a good look at him and was quite pleased that he looked fairly ok.
I didnt want to be too hopeful in case he didnt pull through so I thought I'd done my best for him and now I'd leave him a while - with food and water in the box of course. I was back within the hour and went straight to see how my baby was, and he was still alive thank goodness and looking quite perky so I decided to name him. Meet Hugo! You'll want to know what actually to him. He was found by a motor mechanic when opening up his workshop, in part of an old barn, after being away on holiday for more than a week. Hugo was on the floor and had obviously fallen into, but scrambled out of, a pan of oil. How long he had been there is anyone's guess but it probably wasn't more than a day or so or he would not have survived. The mechanic knew there had been a jackdaw's nest in the other half of the barn as he'd seen the parent go in and out, but now the nest was deserted and the other babies had obviously fledged and gone.

Next thing of course was to get Hugo to eat - he certainly wasnt going to make it if he didnt eat and of course I had no idea when he last ate or indeed what would be best to offer him. I have mealworms so I soaked some, and I also got some worms out of my wormery and chopped them up. Doing this was unpleasant but I figured no worse than birds would do themselves with their beaks. I tried offering him the bits of worm and mealworms on long tweezers held out to his beak, but he just wouldnt open it. I even looked up people feeding baby jackdaws on Youtube and put his box near the laptop so he could hear the other babies squeaking for food in the hope that it would stimulate him! I started trying to feed him about 11am - on and off, mosting on! - and eventually at 1.10pm he opened his beak and ate the tiniest morsel of chopped worm! Hurray!

Then he ate NOTHING again and I was getting desperate. Some of the advice on the internet suggested puppy food, either wet or soaked dried pellets, so I zoomed down to the petshop and bought a small selection to try. At ten to three Hugo suddenly got the hang of it and started to eating soaked mealworms and the occasional bit of soaked dried puppy food. I fed him half hourly until about 9pm ish, and I'll be honest with you it was a labour of love. Sometimes he wouldn't open his beak, sometimes he dropped the mealworm, or I dropped it off the tweezers, or it broke before it got into his mouth. I had no idea how much he should eat, but each feeding session fed him til he seemed to lose interest, then waited another half hour before offering the food again. At about 9pm it was getting dark and baby birds are not fed at night of course, so I covered the box, still in the conservatory with a dark sheet, and hope he would survive the night.

Back to the dove - Flash and Omo didnt stay the night, so I put Jose to bed in the dovecote again.

Wed 8th June - Again I got up at 4.30 am and moved Jose to the hutch. I often wake up around this time anyway so it wasnt a big effort, and I can easily go back to sleep again afterwards. At 6am I removed the sheet from Hugo's box and fed him soaked mealworms again, which he ate quite well but slowly. His box was on the conservatory table and I sat on a chair, sipping my tea and poking mealworms through the grille with the tweezers. Sounds crazy but he preferred the straightest ones. Imagine me bending over an icecream tub of soaked mealworms trying to pick out the straight ones at 6am! By mid morning Hugo had started to peck at the mealworms that had fallen off the tweezers and started to feed himself! Big relief for me at it is extremely time consuming feeding a baby bird!

I arranged a cage in the garden for Hugo withthe small hospital box for him to stand on or go inside. I draped the end with a towel and plastic to give him shade and shelter and he seemed fairly content.

Again Flash and Omo spent a busy day arranging their nest, but didnt stay the night. Flash was also busy behind Omo's back, mating with Jose, and then later with Omo!

That evening I let Hugo be free in the conservatory and he seemed to like it. He was not brilliant at flying, more fluttering than flying, but he flew from my hand to my head!

I put Jose to bed in the dovecote again.

Thursday 9th June - I was up at 5am, half an hour later than yesterday and Flash and Omo had already arrived and kicked Jose out onto the hedge below the cote! I rescued her and put her in the hutch til I got up properly. Flash and Omo repeated yesterday, including Flash mating with Jose while Omo sat inside the cot. Chocolate Brownie also mated with Jose today - all these carryings on! I think CB and Dalmation Dove have eggs again as I'm only seeing one or other at present. Yet again Flash and Omo didnt stay the night so I tried something different. I put Jose to bed in a different section of the cote, not her old place where F and O had built their nest but the top side one facing the hutch.

Friday 10th June - I got up at 4.30am and meant to wait and watch to see what Flash and Omo would do when they arrived - see whether they noticed Jose was in the cote, but I was too tired and just put her straight in the hutch and went back to bed.

Today I saw Hugo drink for the first time - he probably has drunk before but secretly! In the evening I brought him into the conservatory for flying practice between 6-8pm so he could built up confidence and get the feel of his wings.

At 7.30pm Omo was on the nest and Flash was on the roof. I surreptiously moved the step-ladder and put Jose to bed in the side section the same as last night. Within one minute Omo had flown out of her part and onto the roof to 'tell' Flash. Fifteen minutes later she went back in and ten minutes after that Flash entered Jose's bit, chucked her out and was nastily pecking her on the hedge. It seems she is fine for a plaything when Omo is not around, but he isn't going to allow her to live in his house! From the hedge Jose fell on the yard side, not the garden side, and she immediately ran under my car. Brilliant! It was raining and I had to force her out from under the car and catch her with the net, so I could put her safely in the hutch. This time Omo DID spend the night in the cote but I didn't think Flash stayed with her. And that's my wonderful news - breeding doves in my cote! It's been more than TWO years since Hope and Glory hatched Victory and Purity in March 2009 (see previous blogs for their story) and I am full of expectation again.
The end.

Three, just THREE left!

7 Feb 2010

I have not written about the doves since the end of November. I wish I had as now the little time I had with the 'After Doves' is over.

Probably the farmer as been busy with his gun again. I can think of no other explanation for the fact that now I have just three white doves, and no coloured ones, visiting.

The little After flock, visiting me from November to January, numbered sometimes as many as fourteen white doves, but on a day to day basis was usually about eight white and some others I particularly recognised including the beautiful speckled Dalmation dove. I enjoyed and fed them all through the hard snowy weather. I cleared a large circular patch of grass, and swept it every day to keep the snow off. Doves are cautious creatures and don't like anything different; they didn't like landing on the snow or even the grassy patch I made, but of course they had to - to eat!

My usual lap top has died and is off at the menders so I haven't even got a pictures of that poor little flock to show you, and I can't work this laptop properly, so can't drop the pics into the text!

One visiting pigeon I called Lady Jane Grey, after my internet friend Jane Grey - see my side panel to see her YouTube series of photos of her lovely woodpigeon, Hope. Lady Jane Grey seemed to escape this second dove slaughter and is shown here with a surviving white, but now she is nowhere to be seen - perhaps flown off to find more pigeons to flock with? I hope so.

Peace also was seen after the others had vanished. This is my last photo of her - I hope she didn't go back to the farm, but I fear she did. It really is so upsetting and there is nothing I can do. I hate it when I can't do anything positive.

Now, no doves greet me in the mornings. My roof tops that were once lined with doves are empty, and if it wasn't for my cheeky, hungry robin I would feel bird-friendless. There were four white doves visiting, but one got poorly and spent more time on the ground. I soon saw he had some damage to his beak; it was permanently slightly open and crossed - see the photos above. For the first few days, he managed to eat if I gave him a deep pot of grain, by shovelling it in. He couldn't pick up individual grains from the ground. He lost strength and couldn't fly after a while, so I kept him in my hospital box at night and set him free for the day. When he couldn't eat at all, I couldn't bear it and took him to the vets to be put to sleep as I didn't want him to suffer by starving to death. I left him at the vets in the box to be seen by my lovely vet as soon as he had time, but they rang me to say he'd died before that could happen. Poor little thing. I didn't even name him.

So now they are just three white doves visiting my garden. I think they come from some way away as they don't arrive til 11.30 am at the earliest and mostly after noon. Two are a pair as I've seen them mating and how I wish they'd set up home in my dovecote like Hope and Glory did. That was only last year but seems much longer ago. A life time ago. I so loved having my babies, Victory and Purity... even getting up early to put them back in the nest when Hope was leaving them all night. It was a very special time.

I try to be around when the three arrive so I can feed them. I can't just leave food down as there are hordes of hungry woodpigeons and jackdaws, plus at least two pheasants and squirrels. During the hour of my RSPB Birdwatch I listed 17 woodpigeons together, and I have seen as many as 25 together at one time in my garden. I think the doves are well fed, they don't seem starving and probably only come for the peanuts I throw, which are a treat!

Now, am I mad but I'm thinking of starting again with a new set of doves? Before that can happen, I will have to repaint the cote - it's now nearly four years since I bought it and rather grubby with a tinge of green. My husband thinks maybe we should re-site it, so that is under consideration too. I need to find someone who can sell me some doves, and a homing net. Many dove sellers only want to sell to those who have bought their dovecote. I got mine from Kootensaw, but feel their doves are pretty expensive, considering they breed so easily and rapidly. A breeding pair can have 8-10 pairs of squabs a year, apparently. Not that mine ever did!

The garden truly seems empty and lifeless to me without the doves but I dread getting new ones just to be sparrowhawk fodder. Another internet friend, Yan, lost three of her beautiful doves to the hawk and ended up giving the last one away to someone who keeps his birds in an aviary rather than see it swooped on and carried off.

So, what do you think? Start again? or not..... I think you know what I will do!

The End

Pigeons in War

Remembrance Sunday 2008.

The National Pigeon Service was formed at the outbreak of World War Two when 7000 of Britain's pigeon fanciers gave their pigeons to the war effort to act as message carriers.

Pigeons carried their messages either in special message containers on their legs or small pouches looped over their backs. Pigeons were dropped by parachute in containers to Resistance workers in France, Belgium and Holland. This was dangerous as if caught with a British pigeon it meant facing German firing squad. The photo of the poster above was taken at the German Occupation Museum in Guernsey.

One famous pigeon was called White Vision. She/he received a Dickin Medal (popularly referred to as the 'Animal VC' and exclusive to animals and birds - see www.pdsa.org.uk/page309.html for more stories) for saving the lives of eleven airmen in 1943. White Vision was released from a flying boat ditched off Scotland and flew sixty miles in strong winds and exceptionally difficult conditions to bring a rescue party.

More details can be found on Pigeons in War at http://www.rpra.org/ Read about some of the brave pigeons - it is quite humbling!

The Animals in War memorial is in Park Lane, Mayfair.

(Information for this blog taken from Pigeons in War leaflet from the Royal Pigeon Racing Association leaflet.

Bognor 1961

This is me, and my nearest sister, in Bognor. I'm the little one, and aged four. I don't remember the day, but I do recall that the dresses were mauve and white gingham, and my shoes, my lovely shoes, were pink patent. I cried when I outgrew them. Maybe my love of white doves stems from this occasion?

How I'm Dealing with the Problem AND Doves in the house!

Photo of my yorkshire terrier - well he does get a mention further down the blog!


First of all, I will just apologise to Lee, who commented on a recent blog. I said Lee was a lady because I didn't know - but we've been emailing and Lee is a man. So, sorry Lee, and let me know when your doves arrive. Lee and his family are getting a new dovecote and four white doves - very exciting!



I telephoned a man called Dave who keeps racing pigeons and has been dealing with pigeons and doves for 50 years. I bought Dave's booklet on Ebay (doesnt seem to be available at the moment or I would have provided a link) and the small price I paid gives me access to his phone number to discuss any problems or queries. I'd actually forgotten about this, but then remembered and thought he might be able to help. Dave was a lovely kind chap and we had a super conversation, but none of his ideas I felt were going to be very practical for me.






He suggested:

1. Trapping the doves I don't want and taking them for a drive 30 miles or so away, and then releasing them.

I feel that this would be difficult to do - how do you trap them? I would have to get big traps and entice them in with food, and I certainly don't want to pay for traps. Then it would be unfair to the doves to take them away from the landscape they know and where they roost. Also I might well split up paired doves and I wouldnt want to do that.

2. Putting an advert somewhere (he didn't suggest where) saying that white doves were available if someone wants to come and trap them.

Apparently white doves are scarce and people are always looking to buy them!!!! (Amazing!). This idea is no good for same reasons as above, and the fact that I don't want people tramping in and trying to trap doves on my island!

3. Shooting them.

We both agreed that we thought this was wrong.

4. Cutting down the food while it is still Autumn and natural food is still probably available.

Well, this seems to be my only option, and I have started to do it. Today 9.10.08 I only put out half the quantity I was putting out before, and I will reduce it slowly. I hate doing this, I really do. They are so so hungry - they come whirling round me, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to get to the food. I sit on the wall and they will feed from my hand, five or more at a time.

The other day I was relaxing in my sitting-room, laptop on my lap and dog by my side, when there was a frightening bang from the kitchen and I discovered that a big male dove had flown in through the back door (which is actually our front door too!) which was ajar and was trying get out through the closed window, flapping against the glass. I caught him and wrapped his wings close around him and held him next to my body so he wouldn't struggle. My little yorkie saw that Mummy was fussing with one of those white fluttery things again and went huffily back to the sofa!

I wanted to ring the dove before I set him free so I put him in the dog travelling box with some food and water to recover until my husband came home (which was only half an hour or so). The dove, making the best of a bad job, started to peck up the food quickly. I named him Octavius as it is October, and ringed him with green (my colour) and blue (to show who he is) and set him free.

The very next day the very same thing happened again. This time the dove was smaller, and I assumed a young female. I managed to ring her myself - I'm getting the hang of these tricky ring! - with green, and red this time, and called her Octavia.









Photo of Octavius (left) and Octavia - have you any idea how hard it is to get a photo of two particular doves together out of a flock of at least 80?


A day after this, we had a more unpleasant happening. Some time after the morning feeding, I discovered a very mangled body of a dove under my washing line.

WARNING: skip the writing in brown if you don't want to read gory post mortem details.

The unlucky thing had obviously had a fatal encounter with a hawk as its body was ripped apart. Its eyes were open, looking like dead staring fish eyes - horrid! I must be getting hardened to these sights though, as after the initial shock of seeing white, bloodied feathers and a poor little corpse on my lawn, I was interested to see that spilling out of the ripped crop of the bird were grains of wheat. I put on a pair of disposable gloves (always a good idea to keep a supply handy) and placed the body on a sheet of newspaper which I then put on the garden table. I have never done anything like this before (except I vaguely remember with a dead frog in a biology lesson at school) but I was interested to see what this dove had been eating. I took a sharp pair of scissors and slightly cut the crop open further. The smell and sound was off-putting I have to say. To my inexperienced eye, the crop looked totally full. I would say that 80% were wheat grains, and the rest other seeds/grains including maize. As my feed mix is not 80% wheat - more like 20-25% - I have to assume that this dove, and no doubt the other doves, are finding food elsewhere. I did have a look at the rest of the body, but didn't do any more cutting. I would have been interested to see the stomach but couldn't face doing the deed.

Ok, safe to read on now -

I have seen Octavius and Octavia several times since I ringed them. There is a small group of 4 -7 doves that wait on the roof until just after sunset when all the other doves have flown off to roost and then come and appeal to me for food. I can't resist them so I have been feeding them a little extra at this time. Octavia seems to be one of them. There is also a rather tatty looking dove that is ringed with a yellow ring on one leg, and a white ring with a phone number on the other. I have seen the word Phone and then several numbers underneath but I can't so far get close enough to read them all. If I could I would phone the number and see where the dove had come from. I would imagine it has been living with the feral flock for some time as it is in rather poor condition with a bit of a bald head! I wonder if it's owner would want it back. I would if it were mine.

So to sum up, hopefully the doves are finding food elsewhere and I can feel less guilty about feeding them less. Currently after the morning feed, about a third to half of the doves remain on the roof and the others fly away. I suspect that they take it in turns to fly off foraging for food but keep a good look out here in case I decide to put more food out. I'm not looking forward to the winter when there just isn't any natural food left around. Of course I do love the doves, but there is just too many of them.


The end.

Update on Spirit and Sooty

Me holding Spirit (sorry about the boob shot!) and Spirit, lefthand corner, watches men at work!

Thursday 25.9.08

Spirit has now been with me for four weeks. She still can't fly and I wonder now if she will ever be able to.

Spirit fans her feathers and stretches, but still can't fly.

I had a fright the other day as I came out into the garden one morning first thing and she was nowhere to be seen. I even put my hand into the dovecote to make sure she wasnt hiding right at the back. I then walked out of the gate into the gravelled yard beyond, but no sign of her. I was a bit upset thinking that maybe she had tumbled out of the dovecote, as she does, but landed on her back and then some vicious visitor, like a cat or mink, had discovered her and carried her off. There was no sign of scuffle though, and no large quantities of feathers in one place. I then hoped that maybe somehow she had discovered she could fly and flown off with the rest of the flock, but I doubted it.

I kept looking out at the garden, and about half an hour later I saw a dove on the wrong side of the gate trying to get into the garden. It kept ducking its head, and looking like it wanted to squeeze in, but we have wire at the bottom of the gate to keep the dog in the garden. I went out, and of course it was Spirit. I held the gate open, and in she walked! She must have falled out of the dovecote, onto the hedge, and then walked along and dropped down into the yard side, rather than the garden side. I was relieved to have her back as she has become a special pet.

We have been treating her for mites. I had thought the infestation had cleared on its own, but of course it hadn't. I don't know much about pigeon mites but they look like grass seeds, long shape rather than round, and they were on her breast and her wings. Sometimes they were visible and sometimes not. I suppose they burrow into the feathers seeking the skin and the blood. Yuck! I bought some Johnson's Anti-Mite and Insect Spray from the pet shop, which contains natural biodegradable Pyrethrum. The most effective way of treating the bird is for two people (wearing gloves) to do the job together: one holds the bird, covering its eyes while the other parts the feathers and applies the spray. The pigeon house or dovecote must also be treated. It seems to have worked, but I will be keeping an eye out.

Spirit has taken to sitting just inside the open back-door, or on the branch near the door that I have put there for her. It doesn't bother her as I go in and out. One day my Yorkie snapped at her as she sat in the doorway and was severely reprimanded. Normally he's good with the doves, but he probably thought it was a bit much if they start almost coming into the house!

Saviour, Spirit's mate, doesn't seem to be with her any more - he may be with the main flock of course, but doesnt seem to come and sit with her during the day which is a bit sad.

Sooty, the dove who fell down the chimney, has been seen every day, but is not much cleaner. I'm pretty sure she is a young female. I am also seeing Columba (one of the first babies reared in the dovecote) every day. So I have three ringed doves at the moment - Spirit (orange), Sooty (purple) and Columba (white).

The end

Too early for Father Christmas

Sunday 21.9.08





I was cleaning up in my daughter's bedroom the other day and although I heard a rustling noise, I put it down to the papers I was collecting up. Very soon I heard it again, and realised that it was coming from behind the metal flap in the chimney place. This metal flap probably has a proper name, but I don't know it - it is pushed forward to open if one was to have a fire, which of course we don't in the bedrooms, or left shut against draughts. I gingerly pushed it slightly, and much flapping resulted so I assumed a bird, and probably a dove, had fallen down the chimney!





Luckily the poor frightened thing fluttered upwards and I was able to push the flap forwards and twist it out (flap not dove!). I had my camera handy and so took a couple of photos quickly - that might seem cruel to keep the dove waiting to be rescued, but it wasn't really as it was just sitting inside the chimney.





Sooty - sorry, not very original name I know! - resisted being rescued but I managed to grab her wing and dragged her out as gently as possible, and held her close to my body, which is how you are supposed to hold doves. This didn't do a lot for my white T-shirt! Sooty also was a horrible grey colour. I don't think she can have been down there long though as I've been in the room every day.





I put Sooty in my dog's carrying box with food and water to recover, and she quickly started eating. After fifteen minutes, and as the other doves were around, I thought it best to release her. I ringed her first - in purple, John's colour - and then tried to bath her in the dove's washing up bowl bath on the lawn, but she struggled and so I set her free.





I wondered at first if she couldn't fly, and saw myself with another dove to catch and put in the dovecote at night, but after wandering about for a bit, she eventually flew to the roof with the others and seemed perfectly happy.


(Sooty left, Spirit right)




I've seen her every day since and also seen her give herself a bath, but she remains very grey, poor little thing.

(Sooty - a day or so after falling down the chimney, and after a bath. Her feathers are very tatty and soiled)




Hopefully this won't happen again in the sitting-room when the fire is lit this winter!

The End.

Spirit

Spirit in the flower bed

Saviour waiting on the roof

1.9.08

On the 27th August, two doves spent the night on our roof. I was pleased to see them, but knew it was unusual and thought maybe they were just passing through.

The next day I realised that one of them had an injured wing and had drifted down to the garden but couldn't fly. I am pretty sure it is the female and I named her Spirit and her mate, Saviour, as he brought her here where it is safe.

The garden is fenced and my dog doesnt annoy the doves, so a poorly dove is fairly safe during the day, when I am around.

Thursday the 28th was about the worst day for me to find an injured dove in the garden. My poor little Yorkshire Terrier, who suffers from a collapsed trachea, was very ill indeed and I thought he was going to die, or have to be put to sleep. While my daughter watched over him, I nipped out to feed the doves and that's when I discovered poor Spirit. She was hiding in the flower bed, and her wing seemed to be drooping and slightly out of position. I put some food near her and a little bowl of water; she edged away from me while I did this.

In the early evening I was less worried about my dog as he seemed to be improving, thank goodness, so I went out to the garden to look for Spirit. She was in the same place, perched on a pot but I knew she would be vulnerable there all night - cats definitely come into the garden occasionally and we have also seen mink, and no doubt a fox could get in if it was really determined. I trapped her easily by bringing the big fishing net I keep for the purpose down over her as gently as possible, and then scooping her up. You have to hold doves with their wings together and against your body, and then they are ok and don't struggle.

I popped her up in the dovecote for the night, and put in a few seeds too. I have a weeny little terracotta water bowl for poorly doves in the dovecote, and I put it on the outer ledge. Saviour, on the roof opposite, could see her I'm sure.

Last night was the fourth night Spirit has spent in the dovecote, but the first night I couldn't see Saviour on the roof. I hope he hasn't abandoned her. Doves mate for life, but maybe he thinks she won't recover or maybe he has found a better roost for the night.

During the day, Spirit hides in the flower bed or comes out and walks on the lawn, especially if other doves are about. I don't normally feed the doves on the lawn any more (see previous blog) but I have been putting some down, so the doves are around for Spirit's sake.

Three times since she has arrived I have found her in the garden lying on her back, feet in the air, and her head turned to the side. It seems to be when she has been trying to hop up a little higher, to a step or a pot, to roost on and she's fallen down.

It's lovely having a dove in the dovecote again, and I have ringed her with orange. Pax's colour but I doubt he will ever come back. I MUST get some more rings; keep saying it and never do it.

I will let you know how Spirit gets on.

The end.

Doves v Lawn

Aug 2008

The Doves This Summer

My husband thinks that the doves wreck the lawn. I don't agree. I think it was the dry weather we had in June that dried out patches of the lawn. He suggested that I feed the doves on the island, and I mulled over this idea in my head. There are pros and cons, but the biggest pro is that if I want to try again with my own new flock next year, which I do, then I need to get the feral flock feeding away from the dovecote. So the pros and cons are

Pros

Husband can't complain doves wreck the lawn if they are not on it!

It doesn't matter how much they 'wreck' the island as it is rough grass.

The feral flock will be feeding well away from the dovecote which will have to be covered with a homing net when we get our own new flock.

As they will be feeding on the island, out of my sight, I won't feel like running out to feed them so often, so they will finish all the bits of feed they don't particularly like (saving money).

They may be more protected from the hawk on the island as it is quite small and a fair amount of it is covered by the tree, thus blocking hawk's vision and downward swoop.

When the lawn treatment people come I won't have to be so worried that the doves are eating the stuff they put down to feed the lawn.

Cons

I won't see the ferals feeding and bathing on the lawn in front of me. Big con.

I will have to traipse over the rickety bridge to the island at least twice a day, rain or shine, to feed them.... ok in the summer, dodgy in the winter.

If anyone else feeds the doves for me, like my neighbour, he will have to go over the rickety bridge.

Getting the doves to feed on the island might be tricky.

***

Anyway, I decided that , in the long term, it would benefit me if I could move the ferals feeding place to the island so I told husband that I agreed to his suggestion, but he must give me time to get the doves used to it.

I started by moving the doves feeding pans every day a little further down the lawn. This was fine while we were in the open expanse of the lawn in front of the house. Every morning the hungry doves fly down to me and of course they could see where I had moved the pans to. Then

we got to the narrow bit under the arch which goes into a smaller patch of lawn in front of the conservatory. They didnt like going through the arch for some reason, but of course, hunger driven, they did. The next bit was even trickier - the narrow grass path between the flower bed and the conservatory, opening onto another small patch of lawn with the washing line in it. Again they accepted it, although it was a nuisance for the day or so while they were on the narrow grass path.

They liked the washing line and happily sat on it, like little white socks blowing in the breeze, waiting for me to fill the pans. Of course, rather inconvenient for me as I couldnt risk using the line and having nasty additions to my clean washing!

Then I had the major problem of getting them fron the garden to the island. They did not like this one bit. The gate to the bridge to the island is mostly shut (and padlocked) to prevent anyone coming over to the garden from the other side of the river. Now I wanted to keep it open to show the doves where I was putting the pans, but it was a hazard to my little dog who is intrigued by the island and quite capable of trip-trapping over the bridge, and maybe falling in! The bridge is only wooden planks with gaps between. I sorted this problem by putting a piece of wood across the gateway,

The doves were still resistant despite being hungry. I put pans on the bridge, loose grain on the bridge, pans on the island, loose grain on the island wall... but no they wouldnt cross over. Pathetically they watched me from their vantage points on the top of the house, the washing line and their slip-slidy positions on the conservatory roof. I was firm and kept calling them, and throwing more (imaginery) grain down to tempt them and eventually one or two bold ones came fluttering round me, and the others followed.

The whole process took about a week, and now the doves are very comfortable with the new arrangement, and although I miss feeding them on the lawn I am looking forward to getting a new flock of my own next Spring. We will get six this time. Last time I started with four,one pair had babies very quickly so we had six, but it will be better to have three pairs to start with. I have already started thinking about names, and when it comes to the time I will choose one name from Purplecooers suggestions.

Over the summer the flock has increased and today 16th Aug '08 I counted about 65 feral doves. It's getting too many by far, but I try to only put out the same amount of food. Some of the doves are a bit scruffy - maybe they are coming in from a distance for the food. Sometime during the summer the feral pigeons were culled in my local town-that-likes-to-call-itself-a-village. I knew immediately that it had been done because, to me, the town seemed quieter and less cheerful. When I was up in my Pilates class in second-floor studio I looked out and saw two dead pigeons on a flat roof, confirming my suspicions - they hadnt been gathered up after the cull. It makes me sad though I can understand why it is done. Pigeons do make a terrible mess, especially when breeding under the eaves etc and old buildings have many hidey holes. I think some of the feral pigeons who escaped the cull have joined up with the feral white doves. I'm seeing many more grey and coloured ones now.

Doves on the island as seen through the garden fence!

The end

Pinkie's Flock and Chess's flock..... and Angel

This blog is just a general update, more for me than for anyone reading!

There seems to be two small feral flocks. Pinkie's flock is named after Pinkie who I have mentioned before. Pinkie is the tamest dove out of all who visit my garden. She is definitely female as I have seen her being 'courted' (but not mated). She wears a thick bright pink ring, so is easily recognisable and obviously someone else at some time ringed her.

I go out to feed the doves at 7.30 am in the morning. Pinkie and her flock are usually waiting for me, on the roof or the lawn. They walk and fly towards me, which is gratifying, and I always wear my bright turquoise dressing gown as I read in my dove book that pigeon fanciers keep a special coat that they put on when they go into their lofts so the pigeons recognise them. One day when it was pouring recently I put my white coat over my dressing gown and the doves didn't come down to feed until I had gone away. I scoop up their food from a metal bin near the house into an old blue plastic round washing up bowl that used to belong to my mother and then I collect their feeding trays from the shed kitchen where I leave them overnight. I take any food left over in at dusk, and clear the table of stray grain to discourage rats, as we have had problems with them in the past.

I set the trays on the big garden table that I use as a feeding station and start filling them. Pinkie is always the first to fly down, while I am still filling the trays. She is a big, confident dove and will start eating and the others quickly follow, fluttering down around me - but not too close! Two or three will often stay on the roof until I move away. I read an interesting article about how one bird will watch over the flock, taking the role of sentry while the others eat, and this does seem to happen here. Often one dove will stay on top of the roof, scanning the sky. I also stay close for the morning feed to discourage the hawk. And keep away the magpies, the squirrel, the pheasant and the jackdaws who like to take over the table.

I also scatter food for the little garden birds on the edge of the table and nearby ground.

Then I move a short distance away and watch them; always checking their feet for rings, in the hope that I might see John, or Columba - who came back at Easter - or even Pax. And now also for Angel.

***

Angel's Story

I came out of the kitchen door just as the hawk was tussling with the dove almost in front of me - it was all so quick that it was impossible to really see. The hawk flew off and the dove sort of hopped to shelter - the coal bunker again - and got stuck. I picked her up very gently, holding her wings close against her body and she had blood on her. My husband came and terribly gently stretched out her wings to see if they were ok. We felt she was frightened and scratched more than badly hurt and put her, with food and water, in the dog travelling box 'hospital' for the night to recuperate. If I have a poorly dove I always put the box up high in the shed, and make sure the door is firmly shut.

The next morning, early, I brought the box out of the shed and Angel appeared keen to get out as she several times tried to batter down the grille door. I carefully removed her and ringed her - not an easy feat without assistance. I would have waited for my husband to come home and help, but felt it wasn't fair to Angel. I had to use a pink ring but it doesnt show up well against a dove's pink feet. I don't know why they make them pink and white! My last selection were pink, white, green, orange, yellow and purple. Red and blue would be more sensible than pink and white.

I put Angel onto the feeding table and she walked about and fluffed up her wings a little, and then tried to fly ..... and couldn't! She fluttered to the ground and spent the next couple of hours, hiding near the hedge or sitting on a very low perch we have at the bottom of the dovecote.

Angel

Eventually she seemed to have got her head together and flew away, buI haven't seen her since then. I don't blame her for not wanting to visit the garden where the claws of death might be waiting.

***

Pinkie is probably the leader of her morning flock, and often the only one that I can recognise amongst them all - the rest being totally white.

Chess's flock come in the afternoon and are less tame. Chess, so named by my daughter, as he has beautifully marked black feathers in his tail, is definitely male as I have seen him displaying courting behaviour. I don't think he is the leader of the flock, but he is one I can recognise easily. Sometime Liquorice, a dark feathered dove, is there too, and another one similar to Chess with dark tail feathers.

Chess

There are about a dozen doves in each little flock, and sometimes in the afternoons they are all there together, sunning themselves on the roof. I often have individual doves just turn up for a quick feed when the main groups are elsewhere, or sometimes a pair will stay for the afternoon or a small group of three or four.

I had really been thinking about homing another flock of my own - say 6 doves - next Spring, but now after the attack on Angel I am wavering again.

A dove came to the table a week or so ago, and appeared to have what looked like an egg between its legs. I managed to get a photo - see what you think. (If you click on it, it should enlarge) I started worrying that it was some sort of horrible tumour, but my husband said it was obviously just an egg, that had got stuck (with *hit as glue - nice!) and would no doubt soon get crushed. How weird though!

There's always something interesting to see!