Awwww. I can’t wait to see the next batch. Have you got names picked out yet?
Assuming both of these eggs work out, we’re thinking Bob and Susie.
Monday morning, and although Big Pidgee was here alone last night, Little Pidgee is back this morning, both are in the flower box, and she’s acting like she’s in labor. Big Pidgee is staying close to her. My wife’s niece found someting online that indicated it was painful for birds to lay eggs; I’d never heard that before, but maybe she’s about to pop them out soon.
They’re such a cute couple. I wonder how they decide “Okay, you’re the one for life.”
Tuesday morning, and they are bringing some twigs in now for a new nest. Just a few, but definitely some building activity going on.
There may have been some sort of domestic dispute yesterday. The wife saw Big Pidgee peck suddenly at Little Pidgee. Just once. Not lovingly, but rather like he wanted her to go away. Then instead of sleeping close to each other, he stayed far from her on the rail and facing the other direction. They seem okay this morning, with her in the flower box and him standing guard. She may have taken his favorite spot on the rail, next to the wall.
Oh boy, batch #7 on the way? Stay tuned!
Nest-building activities are accelerating. And whatever was bugging Big Pidgee the other night, he’s gotten over it. Back to his old caring self. Much increased frequency of nookie in the designated sex area, too.
And we have another pigeon egg! 
Little Pidgee laid it yesterday (Thursday). We expect another egg any time now. Hatchings to start in 2-1/2 weeks. Sorry, I haven’t checked in for a few days. But … we have another pigeon egg! Little Pidgee laid it yesterday (Thursday). We expect another egg any time now. Hatchings to start in 2-1/2 weeks. The new names will be Bob and Susie; they’ll be squabs #12 and 13. Hope they both hatch this time!
Little Bob is out there gestating now. Mama is with him. Big Pidgee flew off a little while ago. The new nest is looking good; Big Pidgee has flown in some pretty heavy-looking twigs. Both Big and Little Pidgee have been staying here at night, over on the rail. Last night, when Mama saw me looking at the egg from inside, and then I reached through the door for the water dish to change it, Mama decided to get back on top of the egg.
Little Bob is out there gestating now. Mama is with him. Big Pidgee flew off a little while ago. The new nest is looking good; Big Pidgee has flown in some pretty heavy-looking twigs.
Good news Sam and Ms. Sam.
Hope you enjoy Bob and Susie as much as the previous chicks.
Please do update us when you can.
Your narratives are so very readable and I enjoy them a lot.
Thanks.
KB.
Boy, Big and Little Pidgee lucked out when they picked the Sam balcony!
Housekeeping services, water provided, a safe haven. What more can a pigeon need?
This thread, IMNSHO, is one of the classics.
Yes indeed, they have all of those things, plus an all-you-can-eat buffet on the mansion grounds next door. We do think the Pidgees got lucky ourselves. During the balcony cleanings, we often say they’ve left so we can make up their room. On the Pigeon Talk website are some people who have rescued hurt pigeons and semi-tamed them, or whose feral pigeons will let themselves be touched, or the squabs become semi-tamed. None of that has happened for us. For all our effort, Big and Little Pidgee won’t let us get too close, I guess for fear we’ll eat them. But they do reward us with hours of entertainment.
And I was telling the wife recently that if we were going to go out and actually buy a couple of pigeons, these two are the ones we’d probably select. Big Pidgee is a beautiful bird, very big and healthy. And Little Pidgee is a little cutie. We see a lot of ratty-looking pigeons out on the congested streets. This is a good neighborhood for them.
It’s the wee hours of Saturday morning now. The parents have slipped back ito their normal pattern. Big Pidgee’s off sleeping somewhere else, Little Pidgee’s in the flower box with the egg, tucked in for the night. Still just the one egg for now. The wife tells me that this afternoon, there were a couple of pigeon visitors. One may have been George, but she’s not sure. Big Pidgee flew in with a twig for the nest, dropped it in the flower box for Little Pidgee to arrange, then went and chased them away. Good man! I never knew pigeons were territorial.
And we have the second pigeon egg! Little Susie has joined her brother, Bob. We just hope both eggs are fertilized this time. Little Pidgee laid it yesterday (Saturday). We returned home last night to find it in the nest, which by the way is coming along very well. It’s amazing they know to build these things, with no prior instructions or training.
So the eggs were laid on July 9 and 11. Looking back in my records, I see Little Pidgee lasid eggs last year on July 2 and 4. That batch was Manny and Tammy.
We cleaned the balcony yesterday (Sunday) during the afternoon, while Big Pidgee was on egg duty. When I moved the box to the other side of the balcony, he rode along okay.
Later he hopped out to come see what we were doing to his precious living space, like he did that one time with the previous clutch of eggs. But this time we had not put down disinfectant, just water at the moment, so we did not try to chase him back. He looked around a bit and then went back to the eggs, but he clearly was not happy.
When I moved the box back after we finished, he rode along in it again.
He’s close to bonding with you!
Yeah! Maybe in just five more years, he’ll almost let me touch him.
The wife told me we had some pigeon visitors in the late afternoon yesterday (Tuesday), and two of them were Sammy and Katie again. That’s Katie of the epic battle with Big Pidgee. This was after the Switch, so it was Little Pidgee pulling egg duty in the flower box. She doesn’t fight. If Big Pidgee had been here, he would not have liked that at all. They flew away when they saw the wife looking.
It’s the wee hours of Thursday morning now. The wife watched an interesting phenomenon late Wednesday afternoon.
The Switch occurred about 3:30pm, with Little Pidgee taking over from Big Pidgee. But sometime after 5pm, Big Pidgee returned with a twig. Then flew out for more. The wife said he flew in with a twig 7 times in 30 minutes that she counted. That’s an average of just over one twig every 4 minutes. He’d fly in with it in his beak, hand it off to Little Pidgee or simply drop it into the flower box – either way, she’d then arrange it – then fly right back out, returning in a few minutes with another one. He may have done more than that, because the wife’s not sure if he’d done any before she noticed. He stopped once for a big drink of water. When he flew out, sometimes he’d fly up and over the rail from next to the box, sometimes he’d walk over to the edge and dive straight down. We don’t know why the sudden flurry of twig fetching. Maybe he found a new source. Maybe he knew it was growing late and that he’d have to turn in for the night soon.
But even though there have been eggs for several days now, nest building is proceeding unabated. And there seems to be a lot of feathers in the nest these last few days. A light gray, so they’re all from Big Pidgee. He must be molting. But there are no bald patches; he’s growing the feathers back. Both are always preening, so it’s almost surprising there are not more feathers pulled out from both.
I think Little Pidgee said the pigeon equivalent of “Hmm. The living room looks a little shabby. Maybe some new curtains, a new pillow or two…” And like a good husband with a pregnant wife, Big Pidgee hopped to. 
Saturday morning, and Little Pidgee went out for breakfast at dawn this morning, leaving the eggs unguarded. So I sneaked a peek. Did not touch them, but leaning over to look at them, there’s a long “line” of some sort on one. Definitely not a crack, but I don’t know what could cause it. An internal crack maybe? And what I’m seeing is its shadow? After that last unfertilized egg, we’re paranoid. Will be at least 8 days before any hatchings begin. Hope they’re okay this time.
Little Pidgee did return after breakfast.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you and the hatchlings! Thanks for the array of pics, by the way.
You’re welcome!
After looking at the egg a bit more, we’re fairly certain that’s just a marking on it. Don’t think it means something’s wrong. We’ll know before too much longer, as hatchings should begin from just one more week from now (next Sunday, the 26th).
Sunday morning, and we’ve now entered the window for egg hatchings. They could come at any time. But not yet. Little Pidgee is out there sitting on the eggs, which I’ve had one clear look at this morning and seen they remain intact.
Big Pidgee is acting a little strange. The last time we saw him do the Switch was Wednesday. He did not come to spell Little Pidgee for the day Thursday and Friday at all! But the wife did see him stop by for water late Thursday afternoon, so we know he’s around. We were away early to late yesterday and so don’t know what happened then. I suggested maybe they had a domestic dispute and that it was no doubt her fault, but the wife doesn’t think much of my theory. We’ll be on the look-out today.
And we we have a squab!
Little Bob hatched this morning (Monday morning). The wife looked out before leaving home at 6:40. Little Pidgee was gone, so she could see the eggs. Both still there, she told me before leaving. I got up at 8:20, and there was Bob. Still no Little Pidgee at that time. Must have been out for breakfast. I called the wife to tell her, and she said she had seen something new on one of the eggs, looked sort of like dirt, but she thinks now it was an incipient crack. Mama returned after a while, and mother and squab are out there now, along with Susie still in the other egg.
Looks like there’s going to be a problem with Big Pidgee, though. He’s not been seen at all for 3-1/2 days now. The last time the wife saw him was late Thursday afternoon when he stopped by for water, and he’s not sat on the eggs at all since Wednesday. We were gone all day Saturday, but we’re not optimistic he came around that day.
If the wife had not seen him on Thursday, at the end of the first day he missed his shift, I’d be more worried that something happened to him. As it is, I suspect he’s done a runner. Very few pigeons seem to be left in the neighborhood now, although other bird life remains; we think he may have flown off with the others. Odd, because he’s usually the more conscientious parent. We were home all day yesterday (Sunday) and kept a sharp eye out, but no Big Pidgee, not even for water, a very bad sign indeed. Especially so since Little Pidgee tends to become bored with the squabs after a week or 10 days; after that, it’s Big Pidgee who does most of the parenting. Hope he comes back. 
We’re sure Bob came out of the first egg laid, as he hatched 18 days after the first one but only 16 days after the second one; from what we’ve read, 16 days is not long enough to incubate. In the previous batch, which ended up having one unfertilized egg, George could have come from either egg, as he hatched 19 days after the first one and 17 days after the second one, so he could very well have been Gracie instead of George. But this one is definitely the first egg, Bob.
Photos later this week.