Creatures in the Garden

Title	Creatures in the Garden 42
Download	Document size is: 9,895 KB Retrieve original 5000 x 5072 jpg picture.
Photo Information	Dove Family Portrait
Photographer	Auerbach, Jane: UC Master Gardener Vol.
Description	Come mating season, doves often build the scantiest of nests very close to our house. The last few years, they've nested either in herb planters on the wall just outside our kitchen door, or (like these) in pots of succulents suspended from the railing outside our family room door. We can't exit or enter those doorways without coming within inches of them, so they get used to our presence. This photo was taken two years ago when they occupied a pot of Sedum morganianum. The shade of an overhanging palm tree gave them some cover from crows and other predators, so these squabs were luckier than the back door pair that same year; shortly after this shot was taken, these two safely fledged. I particularly liked the formality of this family portrait --the perfect serenity of the mom (or is that the dad? They take turns...) and the different attitudes on the squab's faces, with a hint of the liveliness the bigger one often showed.

Other Items in Collection