Daddy Dove Drama

We've had some drama at the Mourning Dove nest...and we are heartbroken.  Yesterday there was some tense excitement when the parental doves left the babies on their own for a New York second...did they go for a walk? to the movies?  Anyway, it wasn't long before a big old Stellar Jay swooped to the birdhouse.  On Mr. Jay's second swoop, Mama Dove rushes back and she and the twins hunker down in the nest.  Mr. Jay left.    Whew.    The fully feathered babies are almost as big as their parents and I've been keeping vigil at the window hoping to catch their first flight. Today, there was another 'close call'.  A big, black crow swooped up to the bird house a couple of times and the little family hunkered down in their nest.  I turned my head for a second, and when I looked back at the next, it was EMPTY!   They flew the coop! Was it a  baptism by fire for the babes? Did Mom coo,  ‘Hey, after the Jay and now the Crow, it is time to get the hell outta here! Fly now or never!” Wah, I missed their first flight.
Here's the heartbreak.  A short while later Daddy Dove returned.  He sits in the nest, looks around the birdhouse.  Perches on the ledge and looks down on the ground.  He coos and coos.  He hops down to the ground and is looking in, around and under the bushes and ferns. He looks totally bewildered.  It's now hours later.  Still no sign of Mama Dove or the babies, but Daddy Dove is still wandering around the yard,  searching and calling for his family.  Our hearts are broken, there's a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes ...I feel so, so sad.
The photo is Daddy Dove after he flew up to me in the front yard, he walked around, then perched nearby to keep searching for his family.