April 23, 2005
Last night when we came home around 9:30, Mama dove was there, as she always is, patiently sitting on her nest. As I always do, I greeted her quietly and promised that I wouldn't hurt her or her babies.

This morning about 9:30, she was GONE! Her nest contained a single white egg. I had never seen her not on the nest. I thought maybe she had flown off to eat or drink, but she has not yet returned. I felt really bad for a while, thinking that something had happened to her. But now I wonder... she was on that nest for waht seemed like weeks. Maybe she simply decided that the egg was not going to hatch, and flew off to find a more potent mate and build a new nest. I hope that is what happened.

If there is still no sign of her tomorrow, we're going to clean out the nest and straighten up the shelf.