Dove Surprise

August 1st

~6.20 p.m. - 7.20 p.m. 24.8 degrees C, humidity 67% Wind SW 7 kt

Nice to start the month with a couple of surprises. One 'long time no see' and one complete surprise.

Just setting out on the valley road two Tristram's Starlings flew over us, coming down the north valley from the NNW and heading south, calling as they went. Easy to tell in flight from their whistling calls and orange wing flashes on black. We haven't seen or heard any of those since May. Nice birds, lots of character.

The other surprise was at 'look out' corner.. a dove cooing high on a bare branch of the bee eucalyptus.. I think that particular branch is dead, just hasn't got around to falling off yet. A good storm will bring it down, but I digress. I'd heard this dove in the same area a few days ago but couldn't place it so I didn't record it. Its coo sounded almost tauntingly familiar but not like anything that is normally there.

Now I had a clear view of it I was more baffled. It looked a lot like the local collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto and back in good voice today.. ) but the coo was completely different. I'd describe the coo as a sort of a strange quiet cross between a turtle dove and a rooster. Could it be a young male trying out? No, the coo - and the bird, were too well formed. I was not satisfied with any of my conclusions and stood there staring at it for minutes till suddenly the truth dawned on me.

It was a Barbary dove! I had owned two of these birds years ago and now I remembered that distinctive coo, I'd heard it hundreds of times back then! Four hours of sleep is not enough! Also known as the Ring Neck dove, Streptopelia risoria, the Barbary dove has been domesticated for millenia and bred for docility and is readily available downtown for dove fanciers here. The pure white form of this dove is known as the Java dove and is the familiar small white dove used by magicians or at weddings. Its pedigree is complex and uncertain .. I recommend the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Dove

I checked my books when I got back.. this bird was clearly an escape or part of a feral population though I had never heard them in the wild till this week - apart from my own aviary. ( I'd sold my own birds way back, the only bird I keep these days is a beautiful lutino cockatiel called Prince. I won't part with him) .

Gazelle - 1 grazing on the lower slopes of the hill to the north of gazelle field.

hyrax - plenty of activity.. chittering persistent alarm calls and lots of adults and young abroad at 'cypress slum' and some climbing up into cypresses.

Turtle doves: brief coo at about 7.15 p.m. from pines along central trail.

Bee-eaters: Flock of perhaps twenty or more birds hunting low in the eucalyptus grove amongst the trees.

Hoopoes: A pair on the trail near the cistern, dustbathing and poking the ground.

House sparrows: Senegal doves: around buildings as usual

Hooded crows: Fields, hill, flying over, some vocal Jackdaws: calls heard; Jays: quite vocal, foraging over field and in woods as usual

Greenfinches: family groups active up in eucalyptus by look out corner and pines by bunker.

Graceful warblers: active and vocal by valley road and around bunker area.

Syrian woodpeckers: Active and vocal as usual.

Bulbuls: Active and vocal in gardens and along valley road, foraging

Great tit calls in pines.

Sunbirds.. vocal and active at pumping station and on dry creek trail territories. Active in the cape honeysuckle between our entranceway and our neighbours. They may be trying to build a new nest high in it, good luck with that project with all the cats around! They're like wrens in their passion for building multiple nests.

Wheatears: Great spotted cuckoos, blackbirds, chukars, stone curlews, none seen or heard today