Every spring and summer without fail, several birds will build nests in any nook and cranny they can find on our house.  In June we had a robin that had five offspring in a nest right outside our garage door.  Several weeks ago, I noticed another (or maybe the same) robin had built a nest on the freshly painted west side of our house.  She didn’t stay long…I presume the fumes of fresh paint weren’t to her liking.  However, a week later I noticed that a Mourning Dove had altered the robin’s nest adding more sticks and twigs.  She promptly plopped down inside the nest and has called it her home ever since.  The nest is too high for me to check inside, but I’m hoping our painters will be able to see how many eggs she has laid when she flies off to stretch her wings.  I love Mourning Doves.  They are such docile creatures and their calls take me back to my childhood days when summers were spent at my Grandmother’s house.  A huge tree on her property was home to Cardinals and Mourning Doves and I would listen ardently for the “hooo-hooo-hooo-hooo” sounds they made as I sat on the front porch stoop, scraping the sugary, white filling from my Oreo cookies!