The Tale of the Mama Dove

On May 27th, I posted the following on Twitter:

We have a bird’s nest in our garage on our (non-working) garage door opener. Not sure what exactly we should do about this.

We kept an eye on it for a few days, figuring that if we didn’t see any birds in it, we’d get the ladder and take it down.

But we did see birds, or rather, this mama bird:

All things considered, this is a pretty ingenious spot for a nest. The sensors on our garage door opener have never worked, so we keep the door open all the time. She’s sheltered from the rain and wind and thunderstorms, and for the most part hasn’t messed up the roof of our car too badly. She’s a good tenant, despite the fact she doesn’t pay rent.

I was a little worried, though, because the past couple of weeks have been unseasonably warm. Think August type heat in early June, with high humidity and a heat index of over 100 degrees on several occasions. The garage may be protected from thunderstorms, but it doesn’t get much of a breeze.

Every night when I park the car, I always check on Mama Dove to make sure she’s still there. She’s so still, I was starting to wonder if that was her natural state, or if she was in distress.

Then last night, I think I finally saw some movement underneath her. I may have spied some baby bird looking feathers (it’s hard to get a good look). I’m keeping my eye on her to make sure all is well.

I hope they’re all OK, and are able to leave the nest without difficulty. Because Mr. Martini and I were planning to fix the garage door opener this spring before the Mama Dove made herself comfortable. Now we’re waiting to make sure the little family leaves on their own before we try to move the nest. Any advice from experienced nest movers would be greatly appreciated!