the tenacity of motherhood..

18 September 2024

Having successfully raised an earlier brood, our female stock dove now appears to have been attempting another incubation for much longer than the two weeks we would have expected.

As we have a live camera sited in the nest box we can

be fairly sure that she isn’t sharing duties with her partner.

We can also see from the discarded feathers that she is moulting.

It appears that she hasn’t fed or had water for much of this incubation. Her physical condition must be poor.

One is left wondering how she would garner the energy for the rigours of chick-rearing if the eggs do hatch..

A previous female died in the nest box attempting to incubate a final season brood. 

I hoped this wasn’t her fate. Although her eggs hatched she deserted the nest.