Little Chippie

A year ago a little mourning dove fell out of the nest early and became attached to my wife and I. He would eat seeds out of our hand, sit on our shoulder and knee, and wait on the deck each morning watching for any activity in the house.   By the end of the summer he became more independent and would no longer come to us.  But, he still sits on the deck each morning and watches through the sliding glass door for us to wake up. It has been a really interesting experience.

Little Chippie

Little Chippie a mourning dove fell out of the tree

Landing on the cap of Bob sitting next to me

What a surprise he fell out of his home

A little squab only two thirds grown

Downy feathers on his tummy still showing

He landed on my chair arm not wanting to leave

I reached out to catch him as he flew to the tree

He slipped through my fingers and on my knees

Were his tail feathers and down fluttering on my sleeve

Oh no Oh gee what will he do now that he’s not in the tree

The poor little bird  has a naked tail Oh me

Will he sit and cry for his nest in the tree

He stayed around at the feeder he began to eat seeds

He ate out from hands and sat on our knees

We became his mother he allowed us to stay

He became our friend he did not fly away

A few weeks later he grew new tail feathers

Lost his down grew as handsome as ever

He came by one day as I worked on my painting

And sat on my shoulder while I painted he waited

Then flying off to the nearby tree

He never again came back to me

Now he is grown and brings round his friends

To eat at the feeder for seeds they do fend

One day this summer they came to the feeder

With a new little squab so good to meet her

Early in the morning when I come out for coffee

I look out on the deck where he still waits to see me

 Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Read my children’s book about Little Chippie on Amazon Kindle. It is free to those who have Kindle Unlimited. 

Click the link below to read:

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Chippies-Adventure-Dwight-Roth-ebook/dp/B017KTERMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481938134&sr=8-1&keywords=Little+Chippie%27s+Big+Adventure