The Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

What exactly is a turtle dove? Wikipedia says:

The Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur), also known as European Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons...a New World dove of similar appearance and behavior to that of the Turtle Dove is the Mourning Dove.

Oh....ok. I'm familiar with Mourning Doves. We see them year round at the bird feeder. They nest on the porch columns in the summer, and I watch the fledglings learn how to fly. I enjoy hearing their mournful call, although the whistling sound they make when they fly away can be a bit annoying.

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When I got out of bed this morning, the grass was covered with a light blanket of snow, and fluffy flakes were still flying through the air. The skylight in the kitchen was completely covered, which lent a surreal quality to the room. The snow finished an hour or so later; there was less than an inch of snow in total, and nothing on the streets.

After lunch I went out to fill the empty bird feeder on the deck, leaving a trail of footprints on the snow-covered slats. Some time later I looked at the feeder from the kitchen window and saw quite a sight: four mourning doves were perched on the feeder tray, another two were in the red bud tree next to the deck, and a seventh bird was on the deck rail. Their dark feathers were a wonderful contrast to the white snow.

I grabbed my camera, but the birds were gone before I could get a picture of them. Even through the closed window, I could hear them as they flew away.