Left without saying good-bye

I knew already this day would come, but I wasn't prepared. It's a quiet morning on the balcony.

Only a few days ago, Mikael asked me why the mommy bird was there and where the baby was. I took a look and told him that the bird he saw was the baby. The kid grew up so quickly.

We went away for the weekend and I didn't get a chance to capture his grown-up look. The last time I saw him, he was just walking around the balcony.

He was not there today. I stood on the balcony to look down and checked if any dead young pigeon was on the platform...Do they try to do a test-fly before flying for real? What a relief as there was nothing to be seen.
(click on image to see large version).