My Mourning Dove collection continues to grow—thankfully not exponentially. Thirteen birds now show up regularly. They land on the platform feeders just before dusk. They eat together for a bit and then they huddle together to stay warm and snooze.
Winter arrived with a vengeance last week bringing 8 inches of snow and below-zero wind chills. Combined with our snow from the week before we’re already 5 inches above normal for snowfall. But there’s no relief anytime soon. Tomorrow another snowstorm is expected to dump up to 10 inches on us and bring even more frigid temperatures in its wake. The doves may have to pool their resources to purchase an electric blanket.
But they better keep one eye open because Mr. Hawk has to eat, too, and I’ve see him hunting almost every day lately:
