The Story of Ingaborg & Ambrose

Awhile back, Dan and I found a birds nest that had been built in some rafters, hanging on the side of our house. Inside the nest was a dove, sitting on two eggs.

Eventually those eggs hatched, and neither babies made it.

Not long after, the dove returned & made another nest in the same spot. She sat on two eggs again, and this time they made it.

I'm not sure if they were female or male, but we named the baby doves Ingaborg and Ambrose. Ingaborg was Dan's late Grandmother's middle name, and Ambrose was my late Grandfather's middle name. And they both HATED those names with a passion. Dan & I always said if we had birds or fish some day, we'd name them Ingaborg and Ambrose. :)

Saturday morning Dan found one of the birds on the ground. It wasn't injured, so we're guessing it was learning how to fly. yay! I was worried the mama bird wouldn't be able to find him to feed him.. so I asked Dan to put him back in the nest.

As Dan went to put him back in the nest, he realized the other baby bird didn't make it. :( We weren't too surprised as it seemed to be the runt of the two.

Dan put the other baby bird on the hill where his mom & dad would eat. I figured he could eat something there, and maybe the mama bird would find him. Dan placed him on the hill and within 5 minutes the mom & dad birds came over and started loving on their baby. Dan and I watched, in total awe, for awhile. Most mama birds leave their babies to fend for themselves, but these doves were like a real family. It was absolutely amazing..

I know this picture is sort of blurry since I took it from a distance, through a window. I didn't want to disturb their reunion. :) The baby dove is right below one of the larger doves.

They sat like that for most of the day. Sitting with their baby, giving it warmth.

Once it got dark out the mom & dad doves had flown away, and the baby dove sat by himself on the hill. After doing some research online, Dan & I decided to put a towel in a shoe box, and keep the dove warm for the night.

But when we went outside, the baby was gone. We looked around for a couple minutes and figured it must have figured out how to fly, or found a warmer place for the night.

Sunday morning I went out to look for the baby. As I was looking, I realized the mama dove was perched on the edge of our roof, looking down at the spot she had reunited with her baby, the day before. And then I spotted the baby dove.. on the ground, behind one of our trash cans.

I called for Dan to see if the baby was o.k., and he told me it had passed away.

Queue me bawling my eyes out for 1/2 the day.

And then the saddest part.. the mom & dad dove sat in that same spot on the hill for a good part the day.. waiting for their baby dove to show up.

Queue more crying.

Even that evening I spotted the mama dove perched on our fence.. looking down at that same spot.

And queue some more crying.

It absolutely broke my heart.

And I think maybe IF has made me more sensitive to these sorts of things. All I could think was that this poor mama dove had tried before and lost both babies.. and now she had lost two more. Hopefully she'll try again, and hopefully the next one will make it.

Rest in Peace.. Ingaborg & Ambrose.