[Tweeters] Eurasian Collared Doves

[Nelson Briefer]

Eurasian Collared Doves- interesting information from Gary Bletsch. About
that large flock of doves in Conway. A good project is to monitor that area
for the presence of large accipiters. Nelson Briefer- Anacortes.

On Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 1:58 PM Gary Bletsch <garybletsch at protonmail.com>
wrote:


> Dear Tweeters,

>

> It has been interesting reading the thread about Eurasian Collared Doves

> the last few days. Here is my two-cents' worth, regarding only observations

> of this species in Skagit County.

>

> We are now about 30 days into the new year of 2022. So far, I have seen

> Eurasian Collared Doves on 42 occasions during that stretch, at 12

> different sites in Skagit. The sites include my yard near Lyman, a yard in

> the town of Lyman itself, two sites on :Fir Island, one on Samish Island,

> two sites on the Samish Flats, plus several other scattered sites, all of

> which are in the western part of Skagit County. Numbers of individuals have

> apparently decreased a bit since the weather events of November and

> December, when we had a big flood, followed by a long cold snap. Many of my

> 41 observations were of just one or two birds. Even so, during this month

> of January, I have observed flocks that contained the following numbers of

> birds: 38, 20, 13, 11, 7, 6, and 6. The big flock of 38 individuals was at

> the grain silo in Conway.

>

> Digging deeper, I checked my records for the first 29 days of each of the

> last few years. This is the third January of my retirement, so my effort

> has been somewhat greater these last three years. The numbers of

> observations over these three years have remained consistent.

>

> 2022, 41 observations;

>

> 2021, 36;

>

> 2020, 37;

>

> 2019, 30;

>

> 2018, 17;

>

> 2017, 34;

>

> 2016, 15;

>

> 2015, 19;

>

> 2014, 7;

>

> 2013, 8;

>

> 2012, 9;

>

> 2011, 3;

>

> 2010, 2;

>

> 2009, 1;

>

> 2008, 3.

>

> In Skagit County, Eurasian Collared Doves began attracting notice in

> September of 2017, starting with a flock that showed up on the Calhoun

> Road, west of Mount Vernon. A birder in that neighborhood later told me

> that the little flock of doves there had been present for months, perhaps

> as much as a year, before word had gotten got out. I saw my first ones on

> 9-15-07, and it seems to me that the species has been increasing ever

> since, albeit with some "corrections," as followers of the stock market

> like to say.

>

> As best I can recall, the only time I have seen a Eurasian Collared Dove

> being eaten by a predator in Skagit was on April 11, 2015; a Merlin was

> eating a Eurasian Collared Dove on the front lawn of a house by the river

> in the town of Lyman.

>

>

> Yours truly,

>

> Gary Bletsch

>

> Sent with ProtonMail <https://protonmail.com/> Secure Email.

>

>

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