They are little laughing doves, and we place food out for them.
It is a real cutie and wait until you see the action below.
We always keep a lookout whenever we see pregnant birds, pregnant squirrels, and even pregnant toads. The other day the wife had to take a water meter reading and as she opened the lid of the meter a tiny fingernail size toad jumped out. Oh, and let me not forget the skink lizards as they also have youngsters crawling around. Not even to speak of the dwarf gecko lizards. They love flies, so when we swot flies in the house, my wife gathers them and she lays them out for the creepy clients. Lol.
The baby dove looks like it is attacking the mother to be fed, but it pesters the mom to feed it.
Chasing the mom all over the place.
Mommy squirrel also pitched up to score some nuts.
So, the doves went to drink some water.
Then they had to wait until the squirrel had enough, and as the squirrel left the feeding of the little one continued.
Pleading with the mom for food here below.
Mommy gets no rest, and daddy looks on perplexed. Not easy to raise children.
Please, please mommy, just another few nuts.
Mommy toodled back to come and pick up some more nuts for the baby.
This happens every season, and every time that the wildlife brings their babies here, they know that they will be secure and fed. Then as soon as the babies start to eat on their own, the parents disappear and we have a new young one hanging around for a while before it also leaves. We refuse to hand feed or to touch the little wildlings, as they have to survive in nature, but we are human beings with emotions and every time that the young ones leave, we feel a pang of sadness for their departure.
But it is what it is, and nature has its own rules for its residents. Not for us to interfere, as they belong in the freedom of nature. As I write this, the mommy squirrel in the pictures above also has suckling and soon we will expect her to come and parade the new litter. An interesting fact is that mommy will also disappear after her young ones can eat by themselves, and soon we will have a period of no squirrels here as they also leave soon after they can eat for themselves.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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