After sitting on her nest through high winds, the erection of a barrier next to her, freezing nights, a carpet cleaning crew dragging hoses in and out of the house, house guests with a dog, and an evening when we had a lot of dinner guests, our front porch dove suddenly disappeared late this afternoon.

We got out a stool so we could peek into the nest, and there was a baby bird! What had happened to the mama? Would she come back? What if she didn't?

I'm happy to say she did reappear—there she is above. If you look very carefully, you might see the baby (with a beady little eye) in front of her breast. Whew!

What a wonderful job she did hatching it.