Full circle

As I readjust to life back home in Canada, barely back from a two-month sojourn in the southern Caribbean, I'm seeking refuge indoors from the cold, grey drizzle by downloading and reviewing the myriad of photos that I captured during my trip.

I had commenced, all those weeks ago, with this photograph: a ground dove nesting behind the air conditioning unit at the apartment in Trinidad that served as my home base. Regular readers of my blog will have seen it in the post Southerly Migration.

As time passed, I kept watch over this dove, checking regularly and ever-hopeful for an indication that the eggs had hatched. In December I travelled to Guyana for a week of adventures and returned to Trinidad to find her still hunkered down on her nest. Then I was off to Grenada, returning in January to find she was STILL there with no sign of any change. More weeks went by, and I finally began to think this dove was simply messing with my head! Then one day I noticed she was absent from the nest. There was no sign or sound of life - not a peep nor a rustle. I figured something had gone wrong and the eggs had simply failed to hatch or perhaps a predator had paid a visit.

Then, on my very last day before heading home, I noticed movement in the nest again. To my delight, this was what I saw:

Momma dove had successfully hatched two youngsters. All the time they had been quiet as mice, crouched down in their nest as she furtively came and went, bringing the babies food and nurturing them along. It was only as they grew, fledged and neared the time they would leave the nest that they became visible. I suppose when you belong to defenceless and vulnerable species, keeping a low profile is the best survival strategy.

What remarkable timing! To see this little family come full circle was a fitting conclusion to my southerly migration. Now if only the temperature outdoors could match the warmth I feel in my heart!