Nice, Lisa. I like Mourning Dove,too. Sorta off topic, but I saw a cardinal feeding a little brown bump of something in the orchard yesterday. I was walking my little senior pup and the cat always has to come with us. Well, I hurried ahead and scooped up the baby cardinal and placed he/she in the tall grass before Kitty spotted it. The baby made a big fuss and spread its wings to try and scare me, I felt bad. The adult hovered nearby so I'm sure it knew where it was.

Talk about bringing back memories. When I was taking care of orphaned birds at Florida Audubon, mourning doves were the number one babies brought in. Even more than mockingbirds. Why? Because mourning doves build the crappiest excuses for nests you've ever seen! Usually just a few flimsy sticks shoved together, with plenty of gaps. The eggs and babies fall out all the time. I guess it's nature's way of making sure mourning doves don't take over the planet! I've raised more babies like these in the picture than I can possibly remember. And in those days, they didn't have a commercially prepared formula for them like I think they do today. Gary is exactly right. All members of the dove family start their chicks with pigeon's milk, regurgitated from the crop of parent. In my day, we had to mix up a concoction of mashed hardboiled egg yolk and canned milk with vitamins, etc, added. Then we put it in a plastic bag with the corner snipped off (like a pastry tube) and the babies would stick their beaks inside and drink it down. It was a royal pain in the neck, but it worked, as the babies thought they were feeding from a parent's mouth that way. They know much more about saving orphan birds today and have better products and formulas available than what we had to make do with. But it is still an enormous job, and with most birds, it only makes US feel better to save them. Most of the songbirds brought in are not in any real danger of decline, but most PEOPLE don't want to see the babies die. So bird folks are still out there saving them, and I can't fault them for that. I did it, too, and would do it again if I had to. Of course, sometimes certain species are at a point when it would be criminal NOT to save every single bird possible. And for me, the whole experience was interesting and educational, and I learned a LOT about birds, wildlife, and the vagaries of Mother Nature. Marcia

i think hippies pic.. is the closest to what my eye sees on this hosta ... the glaucous coating is sublime ... ============ Ken- Perhaps it is time to open a 2nd account at another photo manager place, like Flicker. ==>>> yes .. it might be suggested a brighter man would have thought of such in the dead of winter.. when he had spare time to fool with a new system ... maybe it will rain someday.. and i will remember to do such ... ==== katy said: Been lurking here for awhile and finally got a bit jealous looking at all those amazing Hallson's orders. ==>> BINGO.. gotcha... lol .. consider yourself enabled ... welcome to GW ... ken

There are no restrictions on hunting WW doves, they are an invasive species. You can shoot/trap/hunt them anytime of year in any number. Maybe a nice stewed dove dinner is in the works? The Inca or little Mexican doves should be starting to migrate about now. I have all 3 year round here. They seem to take turns at the feeder, first the WW, then the mourning, sometimes the Inca are mixed in with the first 2 & sometimes they flock in all at once. The feeders will be deserted then every bird in Galveston shows up, then they all leave. How the heck do you NOT feed them & feed the others? Tally HO!