Saturday, May 30, 2009

A Dove Tale

Sometimes, when the world seems all too crowded with humans and their buildings, vehicles, and all the rest that seem at times so necessary to sustain us, some little 'miracle' of nature reaches out and grasps me fully by the shoulders and wakens me from the daze that is daily life on this big blue hunka rock.
Most such events go unobserved by us folks who seem to spend most of our precious hours going nowhere very rapidly and actually accomplishing very little that will outlive the year, let alone our frail bodies. Just such a small 'miracle' occurred recently in Spokane, Washington at the place my friend George Allen and Diana Kautzman work. Thanks to their efforts, and those of George's wife Linda, I'm in possession of a wonderful set of photos that follow the tale from beginning to nearly the end, which we're waiting to see if we'll also be privy to.
Today I'll post some of the earlier shots along with a couple that show better where all this mini-drama unfolded. Later I'll post a few videos and an address on You-Tube where more little clips are posted. For today, a bit of the beginning....

These are the racks where the events took place.

A bit of a closer view.

And it would seem the staring goes both ways.

Once the object of our curiosity leaves...
...it becomes readily obvious why she's so guarded.

Even so, it seems the nosy humans are being watched from a short distance away.

After a quick check, it seems that the need for hatching the eggs takes over and the egg-warming resumes.

Not only does the dutiful parent return to the nest, it seems that Diana has been accepted to the point the dove will let her share a touch or two.

In a day or so, when I've sorted through another group of the photos these folks generously shared, I'll post a bit more of the tale. Perhaps by that time a few of the events of the last day or two will have lent themselves to the camera's curiosity. Until next time, take care.

7 comments:

George said...

Good job Mike. Thank You.
Yes it seemed a break from the rush of normal work days. Thankfully she chose some cutting edges that we only sell in winter so there was not much of a chance of us disturbing her nest. Diana & I were the only ones she trusted enough to let pet her. Toward the end I couldn't figure out why she would let us close one day & fly away the next. Then we discovered there were 2 adults taking turns watching the nest. One very friendly & peaceful & the other a little nasty at times & very standoffish. I hope you all enjoy the saga, as we did filming it for Mike to use.

Linda said...

Nicely done Mike. Thank you.

R. C. said...

Mike, Doves are good to eat. Take the breast, roll in mustard and then dip in crushed corn flakes. Pop in a frying pan until done...YUM!...Where did you say these Doves are?... Spokane?...HAHAHA ;)

deanna said...

Thanks for the pictures. I look forward to seeing more and hearing the rest of the tale (great title).

Kay said...

I can't believe the dove let her touch it. That's amazing!

Anonymous said...

Diana is my daughter and I think of George as family! Thank you for this beautiful tribute and reminder to appreciate the little things in life.
Thank you again!

Muhd Imran said...

What a wonderful surprise. I just love stories like this.

My Sis has a weaver bird nesting right in front of her bedroom window. Awesome location as she gets to see the couple took care of the young until it was big enough to fly off.

The have been two successful breading occasions to date.

Wonderful nature. It is actually therapeutic to observe such wonders.