Okay, we need some cleansing after the Alaska post. There is an arbor in Mr. Neil's yard, it leads to his writing gazebo. A few weeks ago, Non Birding Bill told me that a bird flew away when he walked by it and it looked like a nest had been started. I checked a week later and saw what looked like a half finished nest. I wondered if the bird started the nest and then changed it's mind. Then Mr. Neil called two days later to report he saw a mourning dove on it--that made total sense, they build rather haphazard nests, it's amazing that any of the chicks survive at all. That's why it looked half finished.

When Kimberly Butler visited, she got the above photo of one of the adults on the nest. The birds will stay on the nest when you walk under it through the arbor, but if you stop or try to hold a camera, they bolt. Kim was lucky to get this photo, but hey if she can make celebrities comfy and at ease for a photo shoot, why not a mourning dove?

I was out the other day and found a position far from the arbor and the young are old enough to sit up high to where you can see them in a patch in the grape vines:

Thanks to the scope you can see the two chicks and part of the head and eye of the adult morning dove. All three stayed very still while I digiscoped them from a safe distance. It'll be interesting to see how much longer they will stay in there. The grapes will be ripe soon and once that happens, that will no longer be a secluded spot. Catbirds, robins and orioles will be in and out of there gorging on the fruit...and a few humans too.