for the birds...

i never thought i'd become a bird watcher.  but, alas...the momma dove and her two babies have captivated my attention, to the point of checking on them twice a day.  sometimes more.

i told you that we found the birds due to chad trimming the tree where their home was.  the momma flew out in a rage and then we did our cheerleading stunt to find out why.  that's when i saw the tiny blobs of feathers.  they couldn't even lift their heads yet. 

well...in two-three weeks time, those feather blobs have turned into the sweetest, cutest baby birds.  i've quietly watched as the momma fed them from her very own beak and i've seen her display the most patience as she sat with them in silence...watching them grow.  from time to time, i would traipse all the kids out to see them too. 

well, the other day i went out to check on them, and the nest was empty.  i did a sad face and a gasp and stood in disbelief...staring at the vacant nest where my little bird family had once been.  i came in and told chad, "my doves are GONE!!!!" 

early this past saturday morning, chad left to go get donuts for breakfast.  he came back in and said, "the doves are on the neighbor's roof.  it's the mom and two babies."  now, i'm not kidding when i say that i bolted out of the door in the hopes of re-uniting with my friends.  and that's when i became an official bird watcher.  i watched as the momma sat, proudly...watching her babes fall from the roof, and then wildly flap their tiny wings.  as soon as you would think they were going to hit the ground...they would swoop up and make it safely to the tree. they would do this over and over and she would watch them and then fly to the yard across the street, where she would gather some sticks in her beak.  she would then fly back and disappear into the neighbor's tree, where i would hear her flap around...obviously constructing a new home.  a bigger home. 

i continued watching until i was snapped back into reality by the notion that i had left all the kids inside and that we needed to leave for the soccer game in a matter of minutes.  i did have them come watch her for a second...before i had to say goodbye.  for now.  i could have silently watched them all day. 

i think i'll leave their old nest home in our tree for a while.  maybe she will want to bring her babies back to visit where they were born.  and were they first learned about the world.  and tell them of the girl who would bring her four, smallish children with her to get small glimpses at the most beautiful bird babies in the whole world.  and she will assure them that they are just that special.  and that God created them...so wonderfully that humans came to see them.  every day.  and maybe...just maybe, she will bring some more babies into this world in that nest.  and she will be thankful that i left it for her...because then she doesn't have to work so hard.  because everyone knows...mommas have to work very hard taking care of their babies.