Dovey
Dovey is a spotted dove. She stayed with us for just two days, but managed to touch our hearts.
Tommy found Dovey on Thursday morning, as he and Judy were heading out the door to school. There she sat in the driveway, not moving. Judy gathered her up and, not expecting her to survive the day, put her in a cardboard box on the porch with some paper towels for nesting materials.
That afternoon, Dovey was still there and she was still alive. One of her eyes was rimmed with red, as if she’d been in a fight perhaps. But she was a little perkier than in the morning, which was a good sign.
Tommy was captivated.
Judy used a syringe and managed to feed her some water, and offered her some of Chip’s birdseed, figuring that what a cockatiel eats, a dove might too.
By Friday night, Dovey was much livelier. She flew short distances around Tommy’s bedroom.
Saturday morning, it was time for Dovey to go. Judy and Tommy and I went out to the backyard to release her. Tommy was sad at the thought, but knew that she couldn’t stay.
She looked much better.
Judy held her up and after a few seconds, Dovey got the idea and flew up, landing on our neighbor Mike’s roof. She sat there for a while. Then, a male spotted dove came and started that bowing-and-cooing that male doves do around females. Dovey wasn’t interested, and flew up into our other neighbor’s mango tree, the male in hot pursuit. We lost sight of her, and after a few minutes we went back inside.
Aloha, Dovey. Let’s hope the rest of your life is peaceful and happy.