After an unusual discovering of the nature in the middle of artificial city, I was thinking about the lessons we learn from paradoxes. This kind of lectures I like the most, because they teach that nothing is as appears at the first sight. I was deep in these thoughts, when noticed something unusual is going on on my balcony. A pair of turtle doves were in our flowerpot with Bougainvillea. Just a few hours later, one of them was already brooding.
Between this flowerpot and our living room is only 20cm distance, with a glass door that separates the living room from the balcony, so I have had a great view of what is happening there. Soon I was googling about turtle doves and how long it takes to have a new little bird in my neighborhood. It was 2 weeks, so after that time I was very impatient. But somehow, in a moment, there were no egg and no nestling. The nest was empty. I don’t know what happened. Maybe some predator took the egg, or little bird didn’t survive, so turtle dove removed dead egg from the nest. Later that day, turtle-dove came and made a few circles at the nest, and flew away. I was so disappointed and felt some sadness because I used to have this unusual company during my day. The turtle dove was always aware of me, I would say. Every time when I was next to the glass door, I had an impress that she looked at me with a tiny bit of her eye.
Four or five days later the turtle-dove was here again. What a nice surprise! This time there were two eggs in the nest. I was very careful, didn’t want the same result, so I was trying not to come every 5 minutes to check what’s going on. Two weeks later, the turtle-dove was still on her nest, without moving. It was little strange because I expected little birds by that time. Soon my husband discovered them under their mother. She covered them with her body, so we couldn’t see them. When finally the turtle-dove flew away, we saw two cute, fluffy nestlings that were shaking, for the first time without their mother around, but she came back quickly. Feeding is the most interesting thing in the whole story. They are so hungry! They push their beaks deep into mother’s, voraciously searching for a food. Actually, the turtle dove has a gland that produces a liquid and this is nestling’s food for the first five days. After that time they start to eat worms, insects and seeds. During the incubation period, I noticed that both, male and female equally were sitting on the eggs, and later bringing the food. They shifted mostly when there were no witnesses around, in other words – me.
Little birds are ten days old now. They grow up so quickly, so every day when I take photos, they are different. In a few days, they will fly away, and maybe their parents will decide to have a new generation in the same nest. I would like so, because this is a rare opportunity to watch a wild animals that are so close, to have an insight into their amazing life. Day after day, the nestlings are stronger and it is so funny to watch them practicing flying in the nest. Even if they are not so big, their wings are long. So, they spread their wings and quickly wag as they are checking if everything works.
Soon, they will go, but I am happy they chose our balcony to make a nest. Maybe they felt a positive energy around and instinctively decided that it is a safe place for them. I would like if this is the truth.
Shiny introvert 
