This winter, we have been blessed with several doves visiting our yard and feeders.
I didn't realize until recently that doves live a long life.
One article said the longest living dove recorded lived 31 years!
We have lived in our "new" house for 5 years this March.
We got three doves visiting us the first year.
We have had about nine doves the past few years.
This year?
We have FOURTEEN doves that have stayed here all winter.
They fly in once or twice a day and roost on our apple tree and take turns flying down and eating at our feeders.
Here are some shots of some of them, I couldn't fit all of them into one frame when all fourteen come to the apple tree!
Here are half of them:
I love how they fluff themselves up and are constantly preening themselves:
Some doze off, some are the "watchmen"...some just look around:
A pair of pretties:
Bracing against the wind and snow:
Taking an afternoon nap:
Such a lovely family:
I love the subtleties of their coloring:
Another one dozing:
All three of these beauties are doing something different:
A pair of twins?:
I think their faces are so peaceful.
I love it when they "coo".....
Sometimes we wake up to their soft cooing outside at daybreak....
I can't think of a better alarm clock. Can you?????
32 comments:
I really enjoy the cooing too though some people say it drives them crazy.
We have a couple Mourning Doves but like you my mom has a flock of them. They rest in her apple trees also.
Great job capturing so many at one time! I like the one with the snow softly falling and the Dove has it's eye closed.
I hear a rooster crow for my alarm clock. That works just fine except in midsummer when it's WAY too early! They are beautiful doves, do you know what kind they are?
New England: Funny you should mention the closed eyes...I had a hard time catching them with OPEN eyes that day and the way they look with their eyelids down kinda creeps me out. ha
DJan: Yes, they are mourning doves. Now this week that the weather is warmer, they are kind of hiding out..maybe making babies?
very cool shots...like a breath of fresh air this morning...
You make thinking of those monkeys:
hear no evil, see no evil, and talk no evil.
I wish I knew where all of our birds are... they all seem to have disappeared even though the weather is turned warm. Usually one of my favorite things about spring is those first few warm mornings when all the birds are out singing in the morning, but for some reason they didn't come yet...
I do love some good dovey coos.
And these shall be for the Dove Calendar.
LOVE these pictures! OH! I am so jealous!
What great up close and personal photos of the doves. You really take amazing pictures!
I love mourning doves. I read that the males have a little bit more purple on the sides of their heads than the females. I just want to squeeze them!
You showed some beautiful sides to the mourning doves! I have a love/hate relationship w/ them. I hate when I have 20 of them and they are knocking bird seed to the ground and being hogs. But then I love them when they are cooing or having babies. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!!
Shelley
Great minds think alike, both my blogs have pictures with doves today!
I have two - sometimes three - doves visiting my patio on a daily basis. I love hearing them, they can wake me up any day!
I too love mourning doves and listening to their coo in the morning! Great pictures.
I love the cooing that doves do. I've only seen doves in cages, they look much happier in your trees!
really pretty! And, yes, that's a wonderful alarm clock!!
The doves are nice, but the photography is AMAZING!!!
they are so fluffy and you can just feel how soft they are. I also love the doves.
Speaking of alarm clocks, every morning (around 7:30 am) and every evening (around 6-8 pm, depending on the time of year), we have wild parrots flying overhead.
Hi Joan, Love your Mourning Doves. We have them too--but never that many. Do you have hawks??? You must not have too many... Our doves have to be so careful here since there are hawks around who love to have them for dinner...
Beautiful pictures... By the way, enjoy my friend Shelley this weekend. Glad you two are meeting. She's a cutie!!!!
We're enjoying George's birthday trip.... It's been great. We're going home tomorrow ---so I will have lots of pictures to post...
Hugs,
Betsy
Brian: thanks, what a nice thing to say!
Rainfield: Oh yes, there were at least three there to say that. ha Actually, this past week, all my birds have disappeared...except a few that come back...I think they are all thinking about love and nesting as the weather has warmed up with promises of spring.
VaBookworm: the same thing here..the past few days I have had very few birds of ANY kind at my feeders...and before that we were packed with birds...I swear they think spring has arrived and are out making babies.
Kearsie: You are so funny about the calendars. Actually, by now, I sure do have enough shots to at least do a bird calendar.
Bossy: Thanks so much...nice to see you commenting and stopping by my blog..did you join on yet as a Follower? I will have to check! I hope so.
Eva: thanks so much..it is a new hobby for me since I retired and I have found out that I LOVE doing photography. It has become my new passion in life.
Lynn: I will have to look at that to see if I can tell the males and females apart from now on!
Shelley: ME TOO! We went to the library to see a presentation on birds of the southwest and got back late tonight, so I still have to pack, etc. I'll be bleary eyed tomorrow but am SO looking forward to meeting you!
Jeanette: Thanks..yes, don't you just love to hear their cooing?
Jientje: And aren't their faces so peaceful and beautiful and calming? I will stop by your blog today...I am behind in reading all my favs...been really busy today and yesterday.
Catherine: Oh yes. They sit calmly and roost for quite a while , just watching around...lovely birds.
Roshni: Today, they seem to have been hiding more...it is getting warmer here...they may be making babies. :-)
Otin: You made my DAY!! :-}
Grannyann: I would love to have one as a pet, but I wouldn't have the heart to cage one.
JJ: Wild parrots? that would be amazing! You HAVE to get some photos of them and post them on your blog!
Betsy: You know Shelley? Do tell! How did you two meet? I can't wait to meet her, it should be such fun!
very nice photographs. We have a few around here in the spring.. I love their cooing.. it must be spring in Michigan!:)
These doves are beautiful and special. You got some wonderful photos of them.
Their cooing is so peaceful. I enjoy it too.
Looks like they were posing for you!
I love doves. They are one of my favorite birds. I live in an older neighborhood and they sit on the above ground wires that come into the houses. I am told the wiring is warm and they like that. They are such pretty birds, too.
Far Side: We can only HOPE. Around here, we always get a "St. Patrick's Day storm" so we hold our breath for one of our last snowstorms of the year....so far our forecast is for 40's and 50's so we will see!
Technobabe; Thanks so much. They are easy birds to take photos of as they roost for a long time and pose there for me. ha
Loree: Yes, it is very calming.
Dreamwalker: I think they were!
SouthernLady: How neat! They like warm tootsies. (Me, too!) :-}
I really like these birds. I especially like the first picture where you can really see the snow falling. I considered myself lucky just to see one of these birds. All of yours seems like a wonderful fantasy.
FOURTEEN! How fabulous.
As always, your pictures are stunning. These lovely birds look so soft and friendly-- It feels like I could reach out and touch them.
Thanks,
jj
Wow, I can't believe you have so many of them. Mourning doves seem so sweet and I love to hear them coo. We have a few that stay in the tress near our backyard but they never get close enough for photos. Maybe they like to stay on the move to avoid the hawks.
Love your photos, the one dozing is beautiful.
Ratty: we are very lucky to live on a lake where many times, the wildlife comes to us.
Joanna: I have the same reaction to doves..I feel like I want to reach out and touch them and then tuck them under my arm and bring them inside. ha
SquirrelQueen: Yes, if you have a lot of hawks around, I hope they do protect themselves. It's funny, we live on a lake and have seen Eagles, but no hawks here by our yard.
sweetes doves I have ever seen. we don't get to see too many in India. thanks for sharing...
Smita: You are welcome..I will have to click on your name and see if you have a blog. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you join(ed) on as a Follower!
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