A few evenings ago, Mark, our neighbor across the street was working on his van when a dove flew down and lit on the van. Despite efforts to shoo him away, the dove persisted in staying around. I was sitting on my front porch working on the laptop. Finally Mark was able encourage the dove to leave, at which point it flew over to our porch and lit on my laptop. He stayed there briefly and then jumped on my shoulder and walked all around me. He was obviously a young bird who was learning to fly. He seemed very content to be around us. I called the Crocketts and Tanya and the kids came to see Dilbert (as he was later named by Meredith). He took up with Meredith and sat on her arm for sometime. Eventually Daniel came over to see the spectacle. He gently took Dilbert and they returned home with him so our local cats would not eat him. At their house, Meredith converted their screened patio into a huge bird cage complete with perches, water, food and other essentials. Dilbert was in the lap of luxury and appeared to understand it. Yesterday he was released and flew away. Reportedly he has been spotted hanging around the Crockett’s home.
