Non-paying guests

There is a dove-couple in my apartment, who were in search of a place to stay / nest for quite some time now.. I am not sure why, but they had their intermediate stay in my bathroom's window for some time now and I could hear their kukuku as if they were already inside my home... There is a empty basket kept in my balcony (which had some flowers earlier..but since I keep travelling a lot, I gave it to my maid who takes care of them with the rest of the flower pots in the basement now.. and this one has been empty since then) and recently , say 3 - 4 months before , I saw this couple saving some twigs in this basket. 

I was initially skeptical about allowing them to use my bin, because I am already allergic to a lot of stuff and people around me said that their stay would mean lot of feathers and their feces etc..and that would increase my allergy.. but I did not have the heart to do away with them.. All I had to do was to remove that bin and keep it in the basement and that would have been it.. But somehow I just couldn't do it.. When my dad was here recently, he was very fascinated by this and he even tried helping this couple by arranging the twigs.. but obviously they wouldn't want any human to do anything to their home and rearrange the way they had decorated it..so they removed all the additional twigs that my dad had placed for them and they kept their own in their own pattern ..My dad was very surprised by their behavior.. It was sort of amazing even..

Since I hardly use that balcony (except for drying clothes) I decided to let them use it for now and if things get messy.. well I can cross that bridge when it comes..Whenever my maid goes to clean the balcony, the female who is usually sitting inside used to go to the opposite balcony...wait for my maid to finish and then come back once she safely out of reach.. This happens when I go to dry my clothes too...At times I see the male eyeing me suspiciously , might be even planning an attack if things go out of his hand in saving his family..aathaadi.....So I always maintain my distance from their home as I don't want to invade their privacy. Last week during her usual cleaning process my maid was astonished to see an egg in the basket.. Oh!! that is why they were seriously looking out for the past 6 months.. poor birds. I was so happy to see that.. Then after two days we saw that there were two eggs 

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Good lord.... Hope they have a happy hatching :)


Since there were two, me and my maid decided to create a partition to their home so that my clothes drying process or my maid's cleaning process wont hamper them. We kept a cupboard besides it so as to prevent the female from looking @ us and getting scared.. Well, we cannot explain her that we mean her no harm isnt.. But if the partition was there she might not even be able to see us.. But today, we saw that the partition was moved away.. dont know if that was because of the wind or the couple did not like to be within a small confined place.. Whatever it is ..we decided to leave them alone for now.. I am not sure how long they are going to be here.. but I hope they are happy. And I am eagerly waiting to 'click' their children...

Till now, its been fun having these new guests in my home..Hope they have a pleasant stay..


6-Aug-2012
Today morning we saw a new born in this dovey family. I have taken a photo..but yet to upload the same. Welcome kid :)


9th Aug
There are two now :)

 

24-Aug-2012

A few weeks later.. See how the colors have changed...

Finally almost a month and the kid doves grew up and flew away, leaving their parents confused I guess, because I see the mom and dad fluttering through my balcony and casting me an angry look as if I have something to do with their departure.

Now that I have cleaned up my balcony and removed the pot which was their home, I guess they will have to find a new place for themselves..

I had fun watching them grow :) and I never knew that in their initial stages of birth they are brown.. wow.. that was news