Don't Get Your Little Red Feet Muddy!

  The young Mourning Dove that has decided that I am a friend rather than foe, has me a bit bewildered.  While the bird can be found near the feeders most of the time, occasionally it seeks out some confusing shelters.  Although it is not unusual to find birds flitting about the marsh at any given time, finding a dove nestled down beneath an uprooted Groundsel Bush makes me scratch my head. With all of the dangers lurking in the marsh and especially up under the twisted roots and mud, it seems to me that this little dove is just asking for trouble.  What was equally strange was the fact that I spent a good ten minutes trying to talk some sense into the bird's head.  It did not work.

  This morning, I found the bird in the same spot.  The tide had come in and was lapping dangerously close to the bird's little red feet.  Still, the dove had no inclination of leaving its resting spot.  Well, now, Dovey....you really should rethink this situation!  If the tide comes in much more, you will be forced to become a duck!  The bird stayed.  It sat there blinking at me with its pretty, dark eyes.

  I wandered up the hillside deep in thought as to why the little dove has decided to become a marsh bird.  Normally, one thinks of herons, egrets and rails as marsh birds.  Red-winged Blackbirds and even Marsh Wrens can call the place home but I have never seen a Mourning Dove have the desire to live in the mud.  Hmmm?  I pondered if the bird was ill.  I kept pondering as I filled the feeders.  Surely the little one would come to eat! I turned and, to my surprise, almost stepped on my little friend.  Well, goodness!  I am glad to see you back up here where you belong!