flurry in the dovecote

I sat down in my usual seat, glad to be home after two days on the road and the parking nightmare. I turned around to check my plants, which sit outside on the windowsill while I'm away, and saw what it thought was a rock in one of them. I went to brush the fern fronds away and—whoops! She flew away.

One could understand why she soon returned. I left the room for a bit, so she could without fear, and started sitting on the other side of the kitchen table. I soon realized that there were two of them, and they were both keeping an eye on me. Pretty soon, they stopped flying away as I came in and out of the room.
 

I looked up some stuff about pigeons and found out that they mostly mate for life, and that doves are among the only birds that take turns sitting on the nest and feeding the young with "crop milk." there is an urban legend that no one has ever seen a baby pigeon, and apparently the reason for this is that they stay in the nest until they have what look like mature feathers. Changping had a pair on her balcony this spring, and she saw the chicks and then saw them fly away. She said they got to know her too. Apparently, doves are among the friendliest birds to humans, and they can recognize individuals.

  I was charmed to see the male perch on a nearby windowsill, waiting to switch off. He flew down, watched me for a while and then took over.