The lead up to Christmas has been a little different this year. A pair of doves have returned to an old nesting site in one of the pine trees at the bottom of the garden.

Since their nest is quite visible, I have positioned the telescope in the conservatory so I can check on it a dozen times a day – sounds excessive (!) and it is.

But the reward means we got a photo of an egg on December 2nd, and another egg was laid a day or two later. However, since we were too slow to race to the bottom of the garden with the camera, we didn’t get a second snap to provide the photographic evidence.

Apparently, both parents incubate the eggs, taking turns, although it’s been very difficult to catch them at changeover, as they look alike, and aren’t exactly bang on time each morning and evening. The female does the nightshift, the male the dayshift. Their nest is a flat pile of pine needles, and, given the unseasonably terrible weather we’ve had in Auckland, NZ, with driving rain and big winds, plus the precarious positioning of the nest on the branch, it’s amazing the eggs survived in place.

The two week incubation period was over on December 17, when we spied two tiny featherless chicks tucked under the parent’s breast while having breakfast. The day was wet and misty, but calm, with an overnight temperature of 19degC which is warm for this time of year.

Nick up a ladder, trying to get the best angle

The babies are thriving, and the parents are continuing to stop on the deck for a teaspoon of oats each morning and evening, eating right out of our hands. We did feel naughty giving them processed oats, so we bought a packet of wild bird seed, but they don’t like it so much, preferring the oats!

One day, one of the doves was so hungry to feed, it didn’t wait for me to put the food in Nick’s hand, and flew from his wrist to my hand. Well! That was special, and a first for me. Its little pink feet were very cold, but quickly turned hot. Birds have a higher body temperature than humans. The whole experience has been the most gorgeous prelude to the festive season.

With a bit of imagination you will be able to identify two small chicks side by side under the parent's breast in the foreground

Both parents are brooding the young, taking turns, with the male in the day, the female at night. This particular dove, the Barbary dove, is the domesticated form of the African collared dove, a native of Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula. It has a gentle and confiding nature, possibly because it has been domesticated for hundreds of years. It was introduced to NZ in the 1860s, but didn’t survive in the wild, and was introduced a second time in the 1970s, caged, and somehow escaped, and survived.

2022 has continued to be a year of learning to write historical fiction for me. My content editor Cate Hogan has done a brilliant job encouraging me to let go of thousands of words as characters, scenes, events, and dialogue disappear from the page, in order to craft a stronger storyline. The good news is that I will publish in the New Year, after sorting out a few important details such as title, book cover, and marketing. I will let you know when it’s available.

As Christmas and 2023 approach, I hope your heart and home are filled with joy and happiness. We will board the boat, hoist the sails, exit the harbour, drop the anchor, and enjoy some reading. I’m armed with a few good books and I hope you have some good ones under your Christmas tree too.

December 20 2022

Maria

Thanks for reading up to here. My next newsletter will be coming to you sometime in the New Year.

For more information about Maria go to her website.

https://www.mariahallwriter.com/