Welcome, New Tenants
09.7.2011 
The apartment across the courtyard--the twig-lined fixer-upper in the windowbox--is occupied once again, as of yesterday. An industrious young couple has moved in, and looks to be setting up housekeeping among the geraniums.
Paris Play readers will recall that the apartment's builders and first occupants, another pair of Eurasian Collared Doves, successfully fledged two young, and the whole family departed just last month. That saga began here, continued here, and ended here. Those posts included a lot of background on this bird species, which you can read there, so we won't be redundant.
The new couple did some serious renovating, including passing straw beak-to-beak in very close quarters:
The new couple is definitely not the old couple (you'll recall mom had a scissor beak), but we will entertain speculation that it might be the kids (let's say they were brother and sister) come back to raise a new generation. We know enough about Pharaonic royalty, if not about birds, to entertain that notion. Or maybe it's just one of the old kids, with a mate, met on the romantic summer streets of Paris.
And here's a Paris Play first: VIDEO of one half of the new couple doing some serious circle-dance renovating. The Paris Play Nikons have HD video capture technology, which we've been saving for the right occasion, so here's our one-minute video debut:
birds, doves, neighbors in Paris Life
Reader Comments (9)
OK now that I know you have video, I want to see some Paris street walking around stuff. Please.
this egg sitter looks a bit less blissful than her predecessor. maybe not as thrilled about being grounded in sunny september. hey, i think ya need to find a chapter of the audobon society in Paris. (http://www.audubon.org/) umm, Personally I prefer owls :)
xxm
Lovely
Margo, none of us look too blissful when we're brooding. And here's an owl shot in San Francisco by the intrepid, globe-trotting Paris Play staff: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythyes/5054859123/in/set-72157625026093234>
Eloise!
Thank you, and the happiest of birthdays to you. We look forward to seeing you and Colleen here soon.
Hugs,
R & K
Laurie:
We will augment now and again with video, but it will probably only be the static, single-camera setup of this post. Not just because we're Jim Jarmusch (and Chantal Ackerman) fans, but because editing video takes a LOT of work, and we think still photography best suits our playing in Paris. Our photography staff is far too Type-A, and video editing is WORK. Oy, perfectionism!
Hugs,
--R & K
"None of us look too blissful when we're brooding..." :) that made me laugh...
So happy to see the nest, er, apartment, has not gone vacant and that they're sprucing the place up a bit. (The geraniums are very pretty... what a nice garden setting for raising kids.) Hope these two have as much good luck with their clutch as the prior pair. And these photos - and the video! - are terrific. Richard, I have an image of you at your window, patiently waiting and watching with your camera, steady and observant. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us... and that goes for your wonderful words, too, Kaaren.
Love to you both!
dawna
re <http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythyes/5054859123/in/set-72157625026093234>
now "that's" a mythic bird! worth pondering what he/she has deemed worthy on the planet...
(then again, or maybe he/she just re-read Albee's the Zoo Story & can speak to the true nature of sacrifice.)
anyhoo......good shot:)
xxm
Dear Dawna,
All four of us are waiting for those eggs to hatch. Stay tuned! And thank you for your good wishes.
Love,
Kaaren & Richard