The branch looked bare, and was safely surrounded by large leaves. There was no sound from the building near the big leafy shrub. Flip was thrilled; this looked a cosy place to build her little home. There were plenty of twigs on the ground nearby, as the people in the house were not keen gardeners and were very untidy. Flip picked up as much as she could carry to take to the fork in the branches. It turned out to be a perfect spot; she arranged the twigs in a rough circular shape. Then she whooshed off to find the last few twigs to finish off her project.
Her partner nicknamed Flap by the lady owner of the home came to inspect the nest.
“Flip, mama bird you have done me proud, let us fly up to the thin branch with no leaves near the house to chew the fat about it, then cosy up somewhere to get our family happening”
“Coo, Coo… let’s go with the flow, honey. I’ll see you up there!”
He was a bit of a hippy pigeon, but he loved his groovy partner and was very happy that she decided to be his darling. She had made him a very homey nest, in a typical untidy and disorganised fashion of his species. And she wanted to lay his eggs, to produce his little nestlings.
Within a day or so the nest had two little white eggs in it, and mama pigeon aka Flip was sitting on it. However there was a bit more activity around the back of the building. Over the fence where chickens roamed, there was a little house next to the fence where smaller humans often climbed up to play. This place became a little noisy. The man of the house started up a really annoying edge trimmer then a noisier mower, culminating in a blower. Flip started to feel upset.
Had she made the right decision? She cooed to her partnerand they both glided up to the electric wires, their favourite gathering spot.
“Flap, I just don’t dig it. This was a cool spot for our chicks. Both sets of humans were not at home. Now they are forever talking to each other, and the other noise that they make gives me the jitters”
“Chill mama bird. This is our first time. Humans only hang for the two days then they go away. Lets’ give it a couple of days, before we split form this joint!”
Well the place just got busier and busier. People started to come out of both houses, on every day of the week. The messy garden near the bush where Flip was sitting started to be filled with humans spraying, talking and moving twigs, branches and green stuff. Maybe they wanted to build a nest too. They moved much of this leafy stuff near the bush where Flip was perched. She flew off to Flap who joined her on a tree nearby.
“This won’t last long mama bird. These guys only hang in their yard for a day or so. Then they stay in the building. Give them a day and just wait”.
Flip was uneasy but she went back to the nest. There was a couple of days quiet time so Flip and Flap flew down to the garden together to drink at the bird bath, then down to the garden beds to pick up some insects and seeds for a bit of a snack, before they flew off to their favourite feeding spot.
They then took turns on the nest again. Then one human brought a box, to point at Flip who was on the nest. She felt a little startled; did they know she was there? She discussed this with Flap.
“Hey baby I feel that time has come to split from our cosy home. These dudes are a little too close for comfort!”
“I feel better if we do, honey! Better hope for our nest next year!”
Sadly the birds flew off never to return to the nest. The owners of the house really got into their garden, removing weeds. Piling them up near the Camelia bush and checking out the two little lonely eggs in the nest despondently. Hopefully when they have less time to bother their little nesting crested pigeons, they will come next year. Just a pity the grandkids had named the birds, from pictures that they had shared on the Family Facebook page.
thewishedforhappinesstree 