Hello All,
Today, we heard from our house and then saw at neighboring Bridgewater
College - a Eurasian Collared-Dove. The bird's three note (coo COOOO coo)
call carries pretty well, but we had ignored it for awhile since we were not
expecting it. This is only our second time we have identified one. Our
first was in the mid-90's in Richmond.
I have not checked any relative abundance sites, but I saw one site with it
listed as a species of 'least concern' since it is non-native and spreading
fairly quickly. I did not see it listed in a search for 2009-10
FeederWatch birds for Virginia.
When seen, the bird was first high in a Tulip Poplar, then did a graceful
slow wide half-circle flight nearer an area frequented by Rock Pigeons near
the College's smoke stack and physical plant.
Cheers,
Bill B. (& Robyn P.)
