We have a few new residents around our house.  And when I say around, I mean outside.

First off, it appears that the mourning dove has hatched her eggs.  We never saw the eggs themselves, but now that there are chicks, the mama is off the nest getting food somewhat often.  I got a couple of pics where you can make out the babies, though I can’t tell how they’re doing (when I watched from the bedroom window I didn’t see them moving at all).

I climbed up on a stepladder to get a better picture (though I couldn’t observe the nest directly – I held the camera above my head):

Also, while doing some gardening, I noticed someone the likes of whom I hadn’t seen before on our property.  It was in this raised bed in front of the porch:

Behold:

It sat there and looked at me as I photographed it, just enjoying the heat.  A little later I saw it had moved a bit closer to the porch.  Later in the day it was nowhere to be seen.  We’ll see if it appears again.