Having been born and bred in the ‘Queen Anne’ belt of suburbs in Melbourne, the call of the Spotted Turtle-dove (STD) is embedded in my brain. I have started hearing at least one calling from time to time some 100 -200 yards east of my home address at 15 Fairfax Street , O’Connor intermittently but regularly on odd days in every other week over the past 6 months or so, but I’ve never heard it so frequently before in the 15 years or so I have lived at the same address.* But I’ve yet to record a sight record of this species for my Garden Bird Survey (GBS) sheet. Its possibly the same bird I heard a week ago, in someone’s garden in Finn St, O’Connor, nearby where Finn St meets the local neighbourhood park. Again, I did not see the bird, but I’m satisfied it was there!
*A quick check looking at the Atlas of Living Australia website has shown me there are 42 records of the STD made by a GBS contributor (H. Nix?) in the years 2010 and 2011 at the intersection of Miller St and Syme Crescent, O’Connor, but that location is 1 km in a direct line south east from my home address. Also, there is one record for 2002 attributed to Black Mountain Reserve. This is one more small piece of evidence, if any were needed, that the STD seems to be becoming more common and widespread in suburban Canberra.
Ian Baird
