Luna, Apollo and their babies *pic heavy*

i live on the middle floor of a small block of flats in south central England
opposite my kitchen window there is a flock of ferals wih a large percentage of white birds


about 3 weeks ago i noticed a beautiful white pigeon on the balcony which is effectively our front porch, she appeared to be nesting...i called her Luna


more pics of Luna:
Luna's nest
Luna portrait
arriving for her shift

during the day this handsome chap turns up...now known as Apollo


more pics of Apollo:
Apollo on nest
Apollo portrait

the balcony is quite sheltered - it's like a room with a large un-glazed window, but being on the way to our front door there is daily traffic
however, Luna & Apollo have chosen their home and stuck with it
earlier this week i found a large piece of egg shell
several peeks into the corner later i saw my first baby pij




different angle: Apollo dad

it was a little while before i saw baby faces, but eventually i got my chance
Luna is very protective, these 2 shots show how she fluffs her neck in an attempt to look bigger & hide the bubs:
"almost-normal" Luna and fluffed-up Luna

when dad's on duty photo ops are a bit easier as he shrinks away
look at the proud father


a bit of patience can be rewarding: mum & baby
and with some care...



hope you like
there will be an update soon

for sharing your balcony pijjies with us.
Loved the photos. Your first photo is absolutely stunning and definitely one of a kind.
I don't think there is anything cuter than to see a baby peeking out from under Mom or Dad.
We will be looking for updated photos, that's for sure.

Beautiful photos, thank you! I am so glad that they found your balcony!

Love 'em

Gotta love little yellow fuzzball peeking out from under Luna

Wonderful photos, Rattyfied, thank you for sharing them with us. Luna and Apollo are so beautiful! I wonder whether the babies will resemble one or both of them. So, now that you started, please keep on posting photos! We love photos!

i'm a bit behind with the photos; these were taken Sun 20th whilst Apollo was out shopping






more pics here:
babies3
babies5
babies6
babies8

do you think the one with the more pronounced dorsal stripe might be the boy? it looks a little larger i think

this was yesterday, Mon 21st

What a lovely thread!
I love the dialog and your pictures.

Beautiful birds! I love dad's coloring. Thanks for sharing their story. Don't those baby pigeons grow fast!? It never fails to amaze me.

Love the updated photos. And the caption below.

rattyfied wrote:

i'm a bit behind with the photos;
these were taken Sun 20th whilst Apollo was out shopping

Love it!

Lovely story and pictures, those babies are looking well fed and healthy.

Janet

Lovely photos and I must say what beautiful birds - especially the mother. We have not a single white bird here in our flock but very funnily spreckled ones.
I absolutely your pictures!

tuesday's pics:




they had been pretty quiet when visited but this time they squeaked at me when i spoke to them

Oh my goodness! What a couple of doll babies.
And look at the difference of color in their faces.

Just too cute . . .
for posting the updated photos.

such a difference in just 2 days!

thursday's pics

so i worked from home today, which gave me a chance to clean the nest corner, tomorrow i'll do a bit more...put down some hay as recommended by Matilda (thanks)
and while i was out there of course the camera was with me; i will refrain from doing a major pic spam

little squab 1
little squab 2
little squab 8
little squab 9

big squab 3
big squab 4
big squab 5
big squab 7

dad 11
dad 12
dad 14







my 6 faves of the day can be viewed in better detail on my flickr photostream

rattyfied wrote:

so i worked from home today, which gave me a chance to clean the nest corner, tomorrow i'll do a bit more...put down some hay as recommended by Matilda (thanks)
* and while i was out there of course the camera was with me;

i will refrain from doing a major pic spam

* Boy does that have a familiar ring.
I'm sure my guys used to think the camera was a permanent fixture to my body.
It's so much fun watching these two grow. Their feather coloring is going to be stunning.

Great pictures.
I'm sure they will appreciate a dry and clean place to rest their little bums.

light wasn't too good today - shame cos the babies' plumage has really fluffed up nicely
i'm taking a guess that the lighter pij is a girl - being slightly smaller and less developed
they now have names - suitable for a boy or girl, according to the website i found, just in case
hope "Yun" is a girl, cloulds are feminine in Chinese whatever that names site says

"boy" pij is a fidget, keeps stretching and preening but the shutter speed is too slow to catch

managed a few pics tho:

introducing: Yun (Chinese for cloud) & Sora (Japanese for sky)


look at her egg-tooth




it's 01:00 here now, and the babies are alone...i didn't see Luna at all "today" (in my terms cos it's before bedtime)
Apollo turned up earlier...about 10:30 this morning but not sure when he left

is it ok them being left all night?

I f ever you fell uncomfortable about them being oput over night, do bring them inside...just make sure you return them to the nest at first light so they get fed by dad.

The babies are just beautiful, and I really like the names you chose for them!

so i had a little scare earlier - hadn't seen Luna or Apollo since yesterday lunchtime
Cynthia and Cindy helped put my mind at rest - thanks guys -
but not so much as the racket when Apollo showed up around 4pm; the babies mugged him and i could hear the squealing from indoors!
peeking thru the letterbox i heard squeaks, squeals and quacks, plus flapping wings and the occasional low "coo" from dad

after he'd gone i took a peek & found 2 much happier squeakers

so here's today's pic update

Sora shaking his tail


i spy flight feathers - Sora's been doing a lot of wing-stretching


look at Tsai Yun's shoulders, i think it's a lovely colour


Sora giving me the eye


a few more:
waiting for food
nice view of Tsai Yun's wing
Sora pecks at the windowsill

these guys are so funny; i checked their crops earlier....just in case
Tsai Yun takes after mum Luna...she gets quite stroppy, clicking her beak and pecking me defensively
Sora, like dad Apollo is more laid back; he pecked at me but it seemed more out of curiousity

rattyfied wrote:

so i had a little scare earlier - hadn't seen Luna or Apollo since yesterday lunchtime
* Cynthia and Cindy helped put my mind at rest - thanks guys -
but not so much as the racket when Apollo showed up around 4pm; the babies mugged him and i could hear the squealing from indoors!
peeking thru the letterbox i heard squeaks, squeals and quacks, plus flapping wings and the occasional low "coo" from dad
** after he'd gone i took a peek & found 2 much happier squeakers

* You're most welcome.
** I'm glad to hear all is well.

Their little crops look nice and full! As the old pigeon saying goes "Full crop, happy heart!".... Maybe I should reword that: "Newly filled crop, happy heart!"

oh dear i've got it bad ...last night i had this awful dream that something happened to Apollo
but when i woke around 7am i could hear that wonderful noise again and there he was, doing the breakfast shift

still haven't seen Luna

todays pics then:
Tsai Yun's flight feathers are doing well.........................................Sora is preening again


waiting for nest cleaning


more:
mon3 mon4 mon5 mon6
mon7 mon9 mon10 mon11 mon12 mon14 mon15 mon16

and bonus little video
- you can hear them talking and stamping their feet
they were both really active today...stretching wings, flapping, preening and stomping around

They get cuter every day.