The dove chick is now eight or nine days old.  We last saw the egg on Friday, July 23, and first saw the chick on Sunday, July 25, but he could have hatched on Saturday.

        After that brief initial sighting on July 25,  the parents continued to sit on the chick as though on an egg, and we didn’t see him--or her--again until Thursday.

        On Thursday, there were definite stirrings; which by Friday had become pronounced to the point that I interpreted them as, “Get off me you big lugs.”  A scraggly head often poked out from beneath the father, who is on the nest during most of the daylight hours when we can observe it, and an eye peered about.

        By Saturday, both parents were more standing above rather than sitting on the chick.  And yesterday there was even  a few minute interval in late afternoon when he was left alone in the nest.  I do not know if this was at the changing of the guard, or if one of the parents had pressing business elsewhere, or simply normal. 

        I tried to get a photograph, but the sun and angle were wrong, and the chick is speckled brown and blends into the nest.  I expect not by chance.

        The mother soon returned, and this morning when I got up was asleep on top of the chick.

        At this moment the father is standing above and to the side of him, blocking him from view except for the enormous, but apparently harmless, creatures on this side of the glass.

        Carol tries to water the plants when the mother is in the nest, but both birds now let her come within an inch or two with the watering can without taking flight.

        Although he has grown considerably during his first week, the chick still has a long way to go, and it is difficult to believe that, as we read, he will leave the nest in about six more days.