As the Dove Turns....A Tale of Obsession and Devotion in the Desert

 Friends on social media know that for the last several weeks I've been obsessed with a particular white-winged dove that nests on my private patio above my sliding door. White-winged doves are among my favorite birds for many reasons I have detailed in an earlier post. This particular bird drew my interest more than three weeks ago when nearly all the other neighborhood white-wings returned to Mexico before a storm arrived. I have been thinking of her as Paloma, Spanish for Dove (and for the Holy Spirit). 

I assumed Paloma was waiting for her babies to fledge, but it soon became clear there were no dovelets in the nest, at least none that I could see. Worse, an egg fell to the ground one day and two days later another egg appeared on the edge of the nest, balanced but not being brooded. Doves usually lay two eggs per clutch, and obviously neither of these would hatch. So why was she still up on the ledge?

I speculated that maybe Paloma was too young to realize she was supposed to join her friends in flying to Mexico. Or that she had been abandoned by her mate. Or... Or... really, why was she still sitting on that nest?

Yesterday, I found out why, when Palomita, Paloma's adorable baby, appeared on the ledge, next to the balanced egg. But this produced a new obsession. Where was Paloma herself?
I did not see her for the rest of yesterday afternoon, even late in the day, and she was not on the nest this morning.  

 Had something happened to her, after all the hard work of brooding this sweet baby dovelet? Would I have to find some way to remove the fledgling from the ledge and learn how to feed it?

By late this morning, still no sign of Paloma. And then I happened to walk by one of the glass sliders to the back yard, and there she was on top of the fountain.

I looked through my binoculars to make sure it was the same dove (she has a healing injury next to her right eye). It was almost as if she had landed there, and stayed there, to make sure I would see her and know that she and her baby are safe. Please join me in wishing them well when they begin their perilous journey back to Mexico.