NEW ARRIVALS

..Cause a flutter with more new arrivals!

DES RES: Home sweet home

for the new doves

 DESPITE a pair of Peregrines taking out three of my four Indian fantails, I decided to buy some more birds since the falcons should be heading off for sunnier climes as part of their annual migration.
 And the recent arrival half a dozen more beautiful white doves really cheered up the lone fantail who will hopefully pass on his rapidly acquired 'avoid and detection' skills to the newbies making them falcon-aware before Spring is sprung.
 They're all still very young and more than happy to hang around the house although they don't seem to have taken to the dovecot lovingly painted and erected by hubby a few months back.

SITTING PRETTY: This dove has just

laid two eggs

 Instead, the newbies are attracted to a beautifully crafted dovecot recently bought as a gift by my mother.

The trouble is it is pretty much lying where she left it and now the backyard resembles a builder's emporium as we have proceeded with long-awaited house renovations.

 He-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is has been dragging his heels over installing the new dovecot and now one of the doves has made a nest and laid two eggs. 

This makes any installation difficult until they hatch ... that's his excuse anyway although it will not wash with my octogenarian mum, as he will soon find out. Watch this space for a future article on Algerian men and their English mother-in-laws!