These photographs were taken of a pair of mourning doves and their offspring who decided to take residence on my balcony in a flower box full of impatiens and vinca vine in Hartford, Connecticut. Find out more about the tragic plight of the family of doves by clicking here. Photos are in chronological order. For other photos of other objects, visit the photography section of the site. Enjoy...I certainly did.

A mourning dove egg laid in a nest made of loose twigs in a balcony flower box. The egg is approximately 1 inch in diameter.	A female mourning dove sits in a box of flowers incubating her freshly laid eggs.	An adult mourning dove sits on two eggs laid in a nest in a balcony flower box.
A female adult mourning dove walks along the rooftop of an apartment building in Hartford, CT.	Two day old mourning dove hatchlings huddle together as the adult is away from the nest.	A pair of blind 1-2 day old mourning dove newborns huddle together in the nest.
Newly hatched these young 1-2 day old mourning doves still have their eyes closed.	The hatchlings are about 4-5 days old now. One is facing to the left while the other faces right. Eyes are now open. They are quite small compared to the towering flowers in the box.	Two 3-4 day old mourning dove hatchlings await their parent's return and subsequent feeding of pigeon crop milk.
The two 4-5 day old hatchlings now have their eyes open and are very small compared to the towering impatiens stalks around them. They await the return of the parents and their next feeding.	As the adult mourning dove sits on the nest you can see the tiny hatchling poking out beneath.	As the days go by, the babies are growing quickly and are more and more exposed. The baby on the left is the larger of the two.
Now that the hatchlings are about 5-6 days old, there is clearly a larger of the two babies emerging. Either the little one on the left was the first born or it's been able to get most of the food or both. They are about 4-5 inches long and about 2 inches wide.	The week old mourning dove hatchlings are now growing like wild fire. They've definitely been eating their pigeon Wheaties!	Out of the two 4-5 day old mourning doves, this little guy is clearly the bigger and stronger one. He is often exposed in the nest.
As the babies get bigger, its much harder for the adults to cover and protect them. This 4-5 day old hatchling didn't manage to get underneath mom this time since he was preoccupied with trying to be fed.	The two nestlings have been transformed into fledglings with their new feathers. Their heads are still nearly bald. They kind of look like tiny vultures.	Around 1 1/2 weeks old, the babies are almost entirely covered in feathers. The juvenile dove's feathers contain much more speckles than the adults.
This picture is one of the last taken before the babies were killed by a stray cat later on in the evening. They are about a week and a half old and the feathers on their head are just beginning to appear.	The last pictures of mom and her offspring as they get settled in for an evening of terror.	The adult dove returns to my balcony railing just outside the kitchen window in search of his mate. He stayed for 15 minutes calling for her and then flew off for the last time.
A picture of the male dove calling out for his mate atop the roof of the building which overlooks the former site of the nest.	A mourning dove sits atop a building calling after the death of its offspring to a stray tomcat the night before.	The male mourning dove continues to call for a mate from atop of this apartment building in Hartford, Connecticut.

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