Flying and more

Twenty eight days old and the two stock dove fledglings have learnt to fly, though they’re still living in the nest box.

What we hadn’t noticed was that one of the parents had returned to nest with the two fledglings. This wouldn’t normally happen (they would only return to feed them) and we have found out why: the adult, now clearly female, is sitting on a new clutch. Stock doves do lay more than one clutch each year, but it is a bit unusual to not even wait for the first to leave the nest.

You can just make out an egg under the female dove.