So the wife and I just returned from a trip up North. We were gone nine days. Got home about 8:30 last night (Monday night). Turned on the lights, opened the curtains to the balcony. When I opened the curtains, a pigeon on the balcony freaked out and fled. That’s odd, I thought. What’s a pigeon doing out there this time of night? Then I saw that a nest had been built inside an empty flower pot, and there in the middle of it were two eggs! We never did see the parent return last night, but peeking out this morning, we saw it back in the nest.
A couple of pigeons have been scoping out our balcony for some time now. I guess with us being gone for nine days, they thought we’d left for good. But the wife’s sister stopped by twice to water the plants on the balcony, and she didn’t report anything when the wife talked to her on the phone this past weekend.
The Wikipedia entry on rock pigeons – which I guess these are; don’t see anything on just “pigeons” – says it takes 17-19 days for the eggs to hatch, then 30 days for the nestlings to grow big enough to leave. Two eggs, just like it says, and they look exactly like the one in the Gallery photo toward the bottom of the entry.
It’s after 10am Tuesday now, and I just opened the curtains REAL slowly and while standing far back (the cord is long). The parent – Wikipedia says mother and father both take turns on the eggs – stayed in place. The flower pot is right by the window; the windows are floor to ceiling by the balcony, so we have a good view of the nest. But the parent is looking at me awfully nervously. I’m trying not to go too near the window.
Looks like we’ll have some little visitors with us for a while.
Too bad the pigeons crap all over the balcony.
Ah, now another pigeon has joined the parent that’s in the nest since I’ve been typing this. They look alike and like the photo in the Wikipedia entry. One of the pigeons scoping us out earlier was white and speckled; I thought that would be one of the parents, but I guess not.
You can dress them up for the ornithologists and the birdwatchers by calling them “Rock pigeons”, but they’re still just your garden-variety flying rat.
Hey, interesting little fact: in mild climates, with abundant food, they will breed year round.
Say bye-bye to your balcony, Sam. It now belongs to your “rock pigeons”.
Well, I just witnessed a pigeon rape! I heard this squealing sound. Looked out, and one pigeon was desperately humping the other as it tried to flee across the balcony. Then they both flew off. One returned and walked over by the nest, then left again. No one’s with the eggs now.
After the nestlings are grown, we’re removing the flower pot. Dunno if that’ll deter them, but they seem fixated on that. Even back when they were just checking us out, they kept hanging out inside the flower pot.
Those pigeon nestlings are ugly! Ugly for a long time! Unlike the peregrine falcons eyases-they are cute little puffballs! Check out these cuties: Imprints (which get fed pigeons)
Congratulations, you’re now adoptive grandpigeons!
One fellow we knew had a narrow ledge outside his office window - about 18 inches. We saw a family of pigeons raised there one summer.
Another fellow we knew had no ledge. But for some reason, he opened the window screen a bit from the bottom - maybe 6 inches - and forgot it was up. He heard tapping on the window, and looked out, and there was a pigeon building a nest on the narrow space between the screen bottom (where it would have been if it had been down) and the window. Maybe 5 inches wide. He saw two clutches of babies hatching there. Mama bird (or papa?) always gave us the evil eye when she saw us.
And one year we had one build a nest in a window box on the edge of our deck. She also gave us dirty looks when we went anywhere near. We didn’t do much grilling that summer.
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]
You can dress them up for the ornithologists and the birdwatchers by calling them “Rock pigeons”, but they’re still just your garden-variety flying rat.
2 x Squabs
Salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp Dark soy sauce
4 cup Peanut oil for deep-frying
Roasted Salt And Pepper
Cut each squab in half. Rub with the salt, pepper and soy sauce. Deep-fry in the hot oil at 375 degrees until lightly browned, about 15 (?) minutes. Do not overcook.
Hack the squab into bite-sized slices and arrange on a heated platter.
Serve with Roasted Salt And Pepper. The pieces of bird are lightly dipped into the salt-and-pepper mixture.
This recipe serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal.
Comments: Squab, a fancy name for pigeon, is very popular with the Chinese. The meat is dark and moist and will respond to several methods of cooking. In ancient China these birds were eaten by rich and poor alike.
I have pigeon eggs. In a can, from one of the supermarkets in Chinatown. Add soy sauce, plum vinegar, a little sugar, a touch of garlic, and lots of sesame oil. Yum!
Also, Projammer’s squab recipe
JRB
By starting this thread you are obliged by law to take pictures of baby pigeons and post them here!
Sam, I’m envious! You have got an interesting few weeks ahead of you with the nest - bird watching has to be one of the most fascinating forms of ‘zoning out’ I’ve ever come across. I’m in New Zealand and am excited by the colder weather because of the little visitors that are coming back into our garden looking for a free meal
Siam Sam, that’s cool! I have a pair of white-winged doves currently nesting on a rafter over my front door. They raised about three clutches of eggs last year, and after they abandoned the nest for the winter, I decided to leave it and see if they would return. Sure enough, they did and are raising babies again. They are really cool to watch. I can see them from the inside without bothering the parents, but they are sufficiently used to human comings-and-goings that they don’t flee when somebody comes to the door.
I had this in Hong Kong at Shau Kee Pigeon Restaurant on Lamma Island. It came with a really tangy dipping sauce that looked just like soy but tasted nothing like it. Absolutely delicious.
