As mentioned previously, we are burning the proverbial candle at both ends these days. My desperate attempts to squeak out at least 25 hours in a day has been met with immense…dare say galactic resistance. Pretty sure in response to my efforts the planet has retaliated by speeding up the rotation. The tasks on the haunted trail project plan are steadily being worked, trail training has become interesting as the ankle has started to squawk as I get closer to the target pre-race goal (a bit concerning as that is usually only half of the race mileage) and later today we head to the doctor to get the results of Linda’s knee MRI. The struggle is real people ha! I know, I know, most of my stress is self-induced and almost trivial to what life can throw at you when you anger it. My running mantra grounds me on the trail and at home – “run the mile you are in” which leads is to today’s featured feathered friend sprint.
Going with a quick(er) post today as I need to get back in the haunt lab – our new set of tombstones are being prepped for paint today and our 8′ gargoyle needs the final hardcoat on its new head. Brad and Jan are still exploring other worlds, but once they are back I’ll be leaning on them heavily to keep you entertained in my absence. For now, we will continue the “European” theme from last post ….after the jump!
Except for those in the upper northeast of the US, you are likely very familiar with today’s featured species – the Eurasian Collared-Dove.
Admittedly, I do not feature members of the Columbidae (Pigeons and Doves) family very often here at Intrigued. Not that I have any angst against them (looking at you Asshats), they just seem to take a back seat compared to all the other options we can bring you. There are 15 members of the Pigeon/Dove family and I have checked off 9 of them so far. 4 are not really in the US (Common Wood-Pigeon, White-Crowned Pigeon, Spotted Dove and Zebra Dove), 1 is rare sighting only here (African Collared-Dove). That technically leaves me only ONE species still to find in the US – the Red-Billed Pigeon and for the record, I have now gone after that damn bird three times in the Rio Grande Valley without luck!
With the exception of the Collared variety, all the other Doves/Pigeons have better “curb appeal”. There are pink ones, rufous ones, brownish ones, orange billed, white edged, splotched, scaled, iridescent and the who knows what you’ll get in the Rock variety. I think it is the simplicity of color palette that makes the Eurasian Collared so appealing to me. The light grey wash over the entirety of the body accented by the single white edged black streak (collar) makes this Dove species so easily recognized. The deep blood red eye gives it that regal look that helps distract from the fact it has a profile like someone stuck a marble on a feathered bowling ball. The Dove Body Image Lobby insists I refer to them as full-bodied – they haven’t forgiven me to this day for labeling them as “plumpy” in a post long ago.
To be honest, I think their real appeal mostly comes from their sparsity here in the States. Not from a coverage perspective as their year-round region spans nearly all of the US (exception being the previously mentioned northeast). Their populations in the region tends to lag behind the other Dove/Pigeon residents. Case in point, it is hard to drive down any road without seeing a Mourning Dove taking a siesta on a powerline. The corresponding chances of seeing a Collared specimen (at least here in the Midwest) is quite slim. You know they are out there, but until you here their recognizable call (a low coo-oo followed by 2/3 boisterous coos), you are more likely to find a real feathered bowling ball.
Before I close out with some interesting tidbits, I should give you some series details. This set of shots was taken at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, CO. Yes, that is the same place as the series in the previous post – a two-for on both the location and the European birding influence. Unlike the European Starling I do not have a slighted opinion of the Collared-Dove. Contrary to the Starling, it was not purposely introduced into our ecosystem because of Shakespeare, rather escapees from a burglary at a pet shot in the Bahamas in the mid-1970s (Cornell). There was also a contingency released in Guadalupe due to a pending volcano eruption. Remnants of these released flocks took a vacation to Disney World and the rest is history. Will close with an interesting physical attribute that I just now became aware of while prepping for this post on Cornell’s site. That site noted Doves provide their chicks with “crop milk” to sustain them for their first 5 to 10 days before they are switched to regurgitated seeds/fruits. This milk is secreted from liquid filled cells in the lining of the esophagus. Fascinating!
Our paint department just called demanding to know where the tombstones are at – need to get going before they start tagging our buildings – words of wisdom, never let your paint department have idle time..NEVER NEVER NEVER (link here)!!
Wildlife Intrigued 
Beautiful birds, great shot too.
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Thank you for the kind words DJ. Appreciate you dropping in and have yourself a wonderful rest of the week.
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As the EUCD invasion got underway in Florida in the 1980’s, we soon began seeing a few on almost every outing. Ten year later, they seemed to be becoming very common. In the early 2000’s, they were everywhere, even overwhelming our backyard feeders.
About 2015, we began seeing fewer and by 2018 we saw none at our feeders. We still found a few around the county but nothing like the numbers we had been seeing.
I reckon they wanted to see the rest of the USA, so now you get to feed ’em.
We hope Linda’s knee situation resolves painlessly and quickly.
Good luck with the haunt construction, where at this time of year I suppose you are all working the graveyard shift.
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I had completely forgot you were in the “invasion” path Wally. It must have been something to see these bowling balls come cruising through your area back in the 80s. Fortunately, they never really took a foot hold here in the Midwest..at least in our part of the woods. This might be due to the large numbers of Mourning Doves we may not have appreciated the extra competition. The state park down the road from us plants huge fields of sunflowers every year to support Dove hunting there later in the fall. You would think those Doves would learn to pick a safer spot…but those Mourning Doves never seem to learn – they know our woods is a sanctuary so the smart ones take a vacation over here until the shooting stops over there.
Looks like Linda is going to need some form of medical remedy on her knee – confirmed today it is a torn meniscus. Still figuring out what the best path to take from the two options she was given. Just bad timing at the moment, but we can’t wait too long or we will be bumping into our migration south. I am definitely not used to being in the support chair and not on the table in the doctor’s office – such a weird feeling, especially when I walk into the orthopedic center and everyone starts asking what “I” did now. I’ve been profiled I tell ya’! You are spot on Wally, we are figuratively and LITERALLY working on the graveyard section of the trail. I already miss my pillow ha.
Appreciate the drop in Wally, apologies as I know you have put out some posts I have not had the time to enjoy yet.
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Interesting observation Wally. That seems to mirror what we have noted over here. I can’t speak for the rest of the Country (or even County) but Collared Doves are getting thinner on the ground around here. Gone from being ‘common’ to ‘Oh look a Collared Dove!’
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Well, it is lovely in a very understated way. And you brought us a nice variety of poses.
Fingers crossed that Linda’s results are encouraging, and keep your own bad self up off the ground!
And… (I swear I’m not laughing) your “Collard” Dove reminds us all to eat our greens.
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CAAARRRRAAAAPPP!!! See, this is what happens when your editor is half way around the world. Thanks for the catch – reminds me of the time I was communicating with a group of serious birders over email and I mistakenly typed in Bard Owl and was met with scorn, belittling and ostracized – how embarrassing hehehe. I defended myself by saying no one in that group could confirm or deny that Owl was the great orator of its species. In this case it there is no denying I picked the wrong spelling as I’ve never never never eaten a Collard Green! (thanks again for the find).
Dr. confirmed Linda has a meniscus tear (as I suspected) and now needs to decide on her course of action and in my opinion the harder answer of “when” to take those steps knowing how we are absolutely booked with the haunted trail event, my ultra, agility trials she needs to get Ruger qualified for nationals in and then our migration down to Texas in January – somewhere in all that I need surgery on my finger, but I already told her that will wait until we get her all fixed up. Proof again that life after the grind is even busier! Thanks for dropping in Sam and congrats on your wonderful interview – very well done.
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Good to have a firm diagnosis, narrows the field of decisions to make. You guys are so busy, whatever happens will feel like an imposition, but the sooner done and out of the way, the sooner you can both focus on having more fun.
Take care… and eat your greens 🙂
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It took me a few seconds to get the connection. I thought I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER get it, but now I’m chuckling.
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Hahahahah, I was hoping some of you out there would get that reference. The amount of pop culture TV I’ve watched and retained over the years is incredibly embarrassing – it is just fun to inflict.. I mean share it with others ha.
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It was fun!
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You want Wood Pigeons? I’ll go round up half a dozen from the garden and send them over!
Also echoed Wally’s comment, the Collared Dove around here is getting an unusual sighting when at one time they were everywhere. I kinda miss being woken up by their cooing.
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