# Nestling during balcony renovation



## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

First off, thanks again for the advice on helping them get through the harsh winter, we were able to get through the season without me finding any more pigeon popsicles.

My building is doing the ten year renovation of the building facade which requires the balconies to be completely cleared out once the weather started getting above zero. I thought it was too early and cold for there to even be eggs but when I took a peek I found this little fellow in there!









The workers have just started putting up the scaffolding but I don't know how long until they get up to my floor and the whole thing needs to be completely emptied out. If it comes down to it I can take him in and raise him but obviously I'd prefer that the parents can do their job as much as possible.

I suppose the question is how long until he's old enough to leave the nest? For the time being I set up a livecam so I can keep an eye on the nest just in case the parents get spooked enough to abandon it. So far setting up the feed hasn't scared them off but I'm going to have to start doing some work out there soon that might be a bit noisy.

Twitch - FancyOwls

Feel free to take a look, I've never done any kind of streaming before so I hope I did that right. I'm hoping the battery lasts at least 72 hours a charge but I guess we'll have to see.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Livestream works well here!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Will probably fledge in 4 or 5 weeks time.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

Will it be any harder to raise him if I have to tear it all down in, say, two weeks time? I'm wondering if it would end up being on the safe side if I just take him in now while he's young and can get used to me, but if not I'd like to leave him out there with the parents for as long as possible and if we're lucky the workers don't get up here by the time he's gone.

I'm seeing the parents coming and going every hour or so which is a good sign for now.


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## Turtleship (9 mo ago)

If you talk to your city bylaw or wildlife officials they might issue a temporary order to halt the work until after the nesting season is over.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

Just talked to the work crew setting up the scaffolds. Apparently the work is going to be much more involved than I thought with brand new railings and possibly even tearing out the balcony decks and pouring new concrete. It'll be at least nine months for the work to complete, and it'll probably be a while before workers are on my floor apart from the scaffold setup.

Sounds like there's going to be more than enough time for the little one to grow up and leave the nest, so enjoy the feed! I'm still glad I figured out how to set it up so I get to watch a squab turn into a pigeon in real time. I still have to do some spring cleaning but hopefully the parents are used to me enough to not abandon the nest while I do some sweeping and scrubbing.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

I wired up an access point on the other side of the wall from their nest and the connection is way better now with no choppiness. I was able to get the camera to transfer access points seamlessly so I just had to wait for the sun to rise and, well...









That egg definitely wasn't there yesterday afternoon! I saw it yesterday evening but it was dark and I thought it might have been a video artifact but I guess not. I'm going to try and get a straight answer on a solid date for when my balcony absolutely needs to be clear because I don't know if I should just nip it in the bud now or if I for sure have enough time to watch an egg hatch. Another worry is that if I take the egg while they're out, will it scare the parents enough to abandon the squab?

Exciting times!

edit: the term I was looking for was addling, I might just do that to the egg while they're out if I can't get a solid answer on when their eviction date will be. Best to do it on the very first day if I really have to.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

They lay the second lot of eggs when the babies are a bit older. Wait till the parents leave and remove the egg. That's what I will do. Otherwise it will be another 2 months waiting for the second lot of babies to fledge.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

Sounds like a plan. I actually found an egg nearby that would have been the squab's sibling if it was viable which the parents rolled out of the nest when it didn't hatch. Would they notice if I swapped out the new egg for that old one or can they tell that it's a previously nonviable egg? If they can't it'd save me the trouble of trying to source or make a fake egg to put in there since I read that it's possible she'll try to lay more eggs if the existing one goes missing.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You can try and see if they will incubate the egg.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

He's so fluffy now! We had almost a meter of snowfall since last week so I covered it up as best I could which seems to have worked. I've been sliding in some food to make things a bit easier during the blizzard which they seem to appreciate. The mom still flies away when I stick my arm in there but dad and the squab don't care, and were even fine with me picking them up to move them when I had to reboot the camera this morning after being gone for a few days.

By the time the melt finishes and things warm up the little one should be leaving the nest with some time to spare before the workers start tearing up the balcony. I'm going to miss them!


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

The workers are starting to put up the netting for the scaffolds but thankfully the little one seems to be getting the hang of flying so I'm hoping I'll be able to give them the boot before they get trapped inside or out. If that ends up happening at least he's now a fledgling that won't be completely helpless, and I'll be able to grab them and release them on the other side.

Other pigeons are starting to show up for visits outside the nest and it's not because of food so I'm hoping that's the first stages of joining a flock once he can fly more than a couple meters at a time.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

I think the time is coming for me to give them the boot, so I'd like to know what the best way of doing that should be. The juvenile seems to be able to go out on its own for hours at a time, and when he returns it looks like the parents are chasing him out now. Dad just kind of pecks at him while sitting on the eggs, but when mom shows up she chases him all around the nest when he tries to ask for food until he leaves through the entrance.

The eggs are almost ten days late from when they should have hatched so I'm hoping the parents figure it out on their own soon. Should I wait until they give up and rolls the eggs out, or should I just kick them out when I notice the juvenile is no longer sleeping in the nest in the evening?


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Early morning would be good, so that they have the day to look for a new spot to roost. Preferably after breakfast.


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## City Face (Jan 2, 2022)

The workers are beginning their work angle-grinding the railings off and while I have a couple weeks to go I want to get ahead of it. The parents have rolled out the old eggs and were getting ready to lay a new clutch so I evicted them today. I'm sad because it was fun watching their little family and learning all of their personalities and being able to tell which one was which at a glance. It's breaking my heart with how the parents have been coming back and looking at me all "what the hell?!" but this is probably the best outcome they could have hoped for.

The juvenile seems to have found a flock and I see them all messing around on the scaffolding during the construction workers' breaks and after hours, and I don't see him sleeping in the nest any more so he's an independent pigeon now. I'm gonna miss the little fella, but I'm happy to finally see him exploring the world outside his nest.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

The live nest-cam was quite a treat! When the adult birds see what changes are to come at their former nest site, they might even be happy that you moved them along when you did. They are free birds, alive and well, and you've done a wonderful thing for the birds, and quite possibly even for _people_ whom these birds and their descendants inspire to kindness.

Bravo to you! 👏


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