Yesterday I blogged about the nest that a pair of doves set up in the cactus hanging near our front door. I wrote that by yesterday evening both of the baby birds, the one that hatched last week and the one that I only noticed yesterday morning, seemed to be back in the nest, although the former was nowhere to be seen in the afternoon. And I closed by noting that, "when I looked outside a little while ago, I could swear I saw three birds in the nest, though that might have been a trick of the light."

Well, when I went outside for the first time this morning I saw both baby birds, one clearly a lot bigger, in the nest. But looking at the two of them more closely, in better light, made me think that the older one might have been the one I saw yesterday afternoon, with the younger one concealed from view. Even the older one didn't look flight-ready yet. Then, when I checked on the nest a little later, it had gotten a lot more crowded:

:

When I stepped back to get a different angle, I noticed that the parent and two offspring in the nest were also being watched over by the other parent.

I'm not sure how to tell which one of the grown-ups was the male and which one the female, but they are clearly an effective mutual aid society. I couldn't stay outside too long because the bird on the roof started to get very agitated. I didn't want it to have to resort to the my-wing-is-broken-routine, so I came inside.

Tags: everyday, home, nature, tucson
Current Location: 85704