Officially, I Suck

The baby doves have hatched. Apparently they've been hatched for awhile and somehow I just didn't notice. So I decided, I'd try to get a couple of good pictures.

As soon as the mom saw me coming, she flew down to the ground and did the "come and get me and leave my babies alone see I'm hurt and can't fly" dance. That really should have been my cue to think to myself, "Self, leave the babies alone, everyone is getting upset."



I didn't. I wanted to try to get a good picture, since the ones I took from the ground (the 1st picture) yesterday with flash, were just barely ok. So I tried to get the camera a little closer. Turns out, instead, I just scared the poor little things silly and they flew out of the nest. At least they are old enough to fly - thank goodness - or I'd feel like more of a heel. Of course, if they couldn't fly, maybe I could have easily put them back where they belong, if they didn't plummet to their deaths onto the concrete below.

baby bird on the roof next door

baby bird on the ground
on my other next door neighbor's driveway

same baby bird on the ground
between my house and the neighbor's

About this time I feel like a stupid idiot and considered going to stand in fire ants to make myself feel better.

Instead, I tried to corral the baby that flew to the ground back into the shade of my flower garden, which is closer to his/her nest. This worked a little. The pavement was seriously hot and I didn't want the baby to get overheated. Well at some point the baby flew into my garage and into the mouth of a plastic bag which previously held dirt. So I was able to actually pick him/her up and after two tries, deposit him/her back into the nest. --WHEW-- The other baby was already on a branch close to the nest.

sorry about the slight blurriness,
it's a bit windy today

So I left that one well enough alone, finally having learned my lesson to leave baby birds the hell alone. This is something I should have previously learned, I know, and I'm pretty sure I did. That's what happens when the inner photographer fights with the inner animal lover.

The baby bird I put back in the nest DID let me pick it up twice, the first time it didn't have much recourse, having flown into a bag. The second time he/she could have easily escaped, having flown onto the hood of my next door neighbor's truck. You can see him/her looking at me confusedly and perhaps curiously at me from the safety of his/her nest.


I can hear the instinct wheels rolling in it's head, "Why didn't predator eat me when it had a chance?" Of course, I don't want baby to grow up NOT fearing humans, but at least maybe they won't be totally traumatized when I respectfully take pictures from a distance.

I might still go stand in the fire ants if I didn't already have poison ivy all over my face and left hand. I'm pretty sure I'm the first Massage Therapist to call into work "itchy" instead of "sick" at my particular place of employment. Either way, I still feel like a heel and a bad baby bird host.