I have a great fondness for Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura), and we used to have a good population of them on property. Then the Eurasian Collared Doves (Streptopelia decaocto) arrived. The Collared Doves are considerably larger, and serious bullies. I’ve been missing the Mourning Doves for around a year and a half now, but they are coming back, and I’m so happy about that. I hope our nesting mums come back too, it’s a wondrous thing to watch baby doves outside my studio window. Click for full size.
© C. Ford.
No mourning doves here. I miss them!
Yeah, I have missed them something fierce this last year. I hope they start staying on property again. I love listening to them.
The mildly deranged penguin Hurrumphs! Another wannabe ex-dinosaur going for the cute look. Probably thinks it can fly, too…
I was mourning dove entertainment this afternoon. I pulled up a section of black tarp and started dethatching and tilling the dead grass. A pair of doves perched on a line nearby and watched. For almost an hour. Eventually they got bored watching the monkey and flew off.
Yes, I’ve tried explaining the difference between the apes and monkeys to the neighborhood animals, but most of them still consider us to be monkeys. I’m pretty sure it was the cats who started the misconception. Not much I can do about it now…
Kengi:
They are very attentive. I love shooting doves, Mourning doves in particular, because they pay such attention to the shutter noise. They make it seem like I’m talking to them with the shutter, the way they react.