Art and I share watering the gardening duties every morning.
One morning, I was watering the bushes and Art looked at the electrical box in front of me and said, "Haven't you looked up and seen that dove nesting up there?"
He's been so exasperated with the mourning doves building a nest and making a mess there that he even put rocks to keep them off.
Uuumm... I guess it didn't work.
He was going to shoo it off when he saw the little baby dove there. He took a photo of it.
Sigh... I guess we'll have to wait till the baby fledges and flies off.
Uh oh.... I went out later and saw this.
So there's 2 of them? Or is it 3? How are they fitting in that tiny space?
Ah well... I guess Nature finds a way.
POSTSCRIPT:
OK, the baby birds have left so Art decided to add bird spikes to prevent them from coming back and using the space as a nursery and toilet.
You know this is Hawaii. We have lots of trees. LOTS of trees. They don't need to build a nest on an electrical box.
Well... We'll see if this does the trick.
Good luck with that. I remember you had issues with birds on your roof!
ReplyDeleteThey like the security of a wall behind them and a solid surface beneath them.
ReplyDeleteDoves seem like odd creatures — slow and docile. I wonder how they manage in life, but they do.
ReplyDeleteAwww. How sweet of you guys to wait til the birdies could fly away. (Glove up or wash hands while messing with messy birds. With bird flu around here, I'm cautious just getting birdie poo off my car's windshield.) What kind of trees do doves nest in? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteFrom the angle of the last photo it looks like there is still enough room for the doves to settle down in front of the spikes.
ReplyDeleteThose are heat anti-mourning dove spikes, I hope they work.
ReplyDeleteI mean NEAT not heat! Duh!
DeleteWe have a squirrel's nest to get rid of -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteBad news for you, but doves like to return year after year to the same area to nest. The good news is that A.I. assures me that Hawaii has a hunting season for them from November through January. Normally that applies to shooting which is probably not recommended when your house and utilities are in the line of fire. I haven't had many opportunities to eat them but the one time I do remember, they are quite tasty.
ReplyDeleteOh, my, more bird issues! I like birds but they are also a nuisance--and MESSY.
ReplyDeleteWe had birds build a nest in a wreath on my window. He removed the first nest, but the second one had eggs. We watched them hatch and grow up and finally fly away. You cannot believe the mess they left!!!!
ReplyDeleteAaargh, those dang doves. They are very home centric so if they made a nest or were born in a certain spot, they return to make a nest even if it is inconvenient. I would use a hose and shoot the nest and mama and she wouldn't budge. In the same corner with very little space. So frustrating.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once told me that if we painted the ledges red they wouldn't nest there. Hmmmm. Maybe the next time we paint the house. Or maybe I can get someone to go way up there (2nd floor) and paint it for me.
I use crumpled tinfoil tied to the area I want to keep nest free. Robins and phoebes are the culprits, especially the robins. But the phoebe chicks in the nest make the most aggravating high whine you could imagine. We built our house surrounded by trees and these dratted birds think the place is an extra big and tidy tree.
ReplyDeleteWe have had what must be generations of mourning doves over 40 years who built nests on a slightly outward slanted board over a security light. Most years it all slides off at some point, sometimes with broken eggs, sometimes with dead babies. Very depressing, and up in the top peak over the the 2nd story so pretty inaccessible. One would think they would at some point realize this isn't a good spot?
ReplyDeleteCeci
Rock doves are pesky critters. It takes some determination to get rid of them
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about your space is it's sheltered and separate from others looking for a place to raise their young. The spikes should work, hopefully.
ReplyDelete