Peter Ewin wrote:
Since moving to Mildura just over 3 years ago I have been keeping an eye on the
Spotted Turtle-doves around town. They are pretty common in the Riverland (in
SA) to the west and had been reported east of town along the Murray River
(probably around Swan Hill) in the 2nd BA Atlas so I was expecting them to
eventually turn up. I continue to see the occasional single bird in town (at
one spot reasonably regularly) with one turning up in my own yard about a year
ago for a few days.
This afternoon I walked out the back door and heard a Dove calling and could
see it in the tree next door. The call didn't sound quite right and so I had a
closer look (and then raced in side to get binoculars) and confirmed it was a
Barbary Dove (the internet is a wonderful resource). This is almost certainly
the bird I heard calling but couldn't see on the weekend (it didn't quite sound
right) and possibly the bird I saw perched on powerlines about 300m away from
home as I was driving one day.
I am assuming the bird is an aviary escapee, but there is a remote possibility
that it has been blown up here in the recent strong south westerleys (there is
a population in the Adelaide suburbs). I note that Trevor Hampel has seen one
bird in his backyard at Murray Bridge - has anyone seen them further up the
Murray at all?
Hi there Peter,
An interesting observation.
There could be something in your theory about the strong winds of late.
A more likely explanation is that it is a aviary escapee. The one I
photographed here in Murray Bridge was very tame and let me get within
about 3 metres before flying off. I never saw it again.
Readers can see the photos I took here:
http://www.trevorsbirding.com/a-new-bird-for-our-garden-list-collared-turtle-dove/
I actually called it a Collared Dove before some readers corrected me.
--
Trevor Hampel
PO Box 611
Murray Bridge
South Australia
Check out my BLOGS (web logs):
Trevor's Birding - observations and photos of birds at
http://www.trevorsbirding.com
Trevor's Travels - travels in Australia, Thailand and Nepal at
http://www.trevorstravels.com
Trevor's Writing - read some of my writing at http://www.trevorhampel.com
Twitter: follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/TrevorHampel
Skype: trevor.hampel
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