Side-by-Side

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 66735933 - Mourning Dove; Athens-Clarke County, Georgia. January 28, 2018.

At 1:38 PM, I come out to my covered back patio to sit under the propane heater. Rain, rain, rain and more rain continues to fall from a gray sky. A Mourning Dove is perched quietly in the bare Black Cherry tree as rain droplets hang about it.

At 1:42 PM, the typical backyard birds make their repeated forays to the feeder: Cardinals, Titmice, Chickadees... all busy back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth as the rain continues to fall. A second Mourning Dove arrives and the two sit side-by-side on their quiet perch.

At 1:50 PM, a loud Blue Jay takes up a perch high in the Sweetgum Tree continuously belting out loud screams echoed back-and-forth by a second Jay nearby; back-and-forth, back-and-forth. Meanwhile the two doves sit quietly side-by-side on their perch.

On a sudden, the Titmice put a ground stop on their feeder trips and nervously buzz alarms from the thickets. Something is up: a hawk must be nearby but I can’t see him. The rain continues to fall. And all the while the two doves sit side-by-side on their quiet perch.

At 2:18, an airplane roars loudly overhead unseen through the cloudy sky. The rain continues its steady stream. And all the while the two doves maintain their quiet perch.

At 2:35 PM, a Downy Woodpecker arrives for some suet. The rain is still falling, and yes, the two doves remain side-by-side on the rain droplet covered perch.

2:42 PM, a Northern Flicker stops momentarily by, high up on the Jay’s previous perch in the Sweetgum Tree. A Red-bellied Woodpecker now rattles off loudly as he takes his tern at the suet. The rain continues to fall; the two doves sit side-by-side on their quiet perch.

At 3:15 PM, I wake up with a chill from an unintended doze; the propane heater has gone out. The rain continues to fall and the two Morning Doves sit side-by-side on their quiet perch.

At 3:27 PM, a gentle coo rolls across the lawn and the two doves lift off side-by-side from their quiet perch with squeaking wings. Meanwhile, the rain continues to fall.

Publicado el enero 28, 2022 04:01 TARDE por