Dove Love, Competition, and Flowers

I wish I could invite everyone who reads this to come over to my house and look at the birds and flowers in the yard. Even though some of the flowers are past peak, it’s still amazingly gorgeous.

I’ve been worried about the white-winged dove female who has nested in the carport and raised several broods the last few years. I had seen her in the nesting spot several times, but no sign of a nest. This morning I heard white-winged doves calling, and when I looked up at the pillar where she nests, I saw her and a male dove evidently just completing copulation. She was all fluffed-out and shuddery, as I’ve seen female doves after sex. Anyway, no signs yet of a nest, but I now feel they will build it soon.

White-winged mama and one baby from last year.

Back in the bird garden, a pair of pyrrhuloxias and a pair of cardinals squabbled over the sunflower seed feeder. It was also  visited by a thrasher and a cactus wren who shoveled seeds out as fast as it could for future eating.

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, at the seed feeder. The bottlebrush blossoms are so thick they have pulled several stems down to the ground.

Elsewhere, in the back and front yards, everything is blooming and beautiful.

Cleveland Sage in the back yard; this plant has the most heavenly scent in the world.

Hawthorne blossoms. This bush came with the house.

 

Creosote in the front yard and brittlebush at the mailbox

And ocotillo in the driveway.

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