If any of you follow Stokes Birding blog, you will remember an entry they had on mourning dove decline in NH. Link: http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/mourning-dove-declines.html
After I read that I started keeping my eyes open here in Massachusetts and I have only seen one lonely dove in my backyard eating the seed I put out for the ground birds.
I was talking to a security guard that I work with about birding and in general conversation he told me he wasn't getting any mourning doves this year. Right the minute he told me that I remembered the Stokes blog entry and started wondering if we are in fact experiencing a mourning dove decline of some sort.
Has anyone seen mourning doves in their area or is it unique to New England somehow?
Peace
11 comments:
I have not seen a decline here in GA. We have just as many as we've always had at the feeders.
I'm not sure, but have you ever thought of helping out with your local Christmas Bird Count? Might help give you some answers! :)
Thanks Dave. Yes I am doing the Christmas Bird Count this year for the first time and can't wait! It will be interesting to see the aggregated data for New England once it comes out.
Gosh - I'm in Mourning Dove overload here! I had 13 in my yard yesterday. Dave's suggestion of the christmas bird count is great - I do that every year. Also, there's project feederwatch from Cornell which runs from now until April - that will help you compare what others are seeing in your area. Happy Thanksgiving to you!
we have a kazillion mourning doves here in sw ontario :-)
I saw some in TN in the Summer--but not recently. Hopefully, yours will be back!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving, Kallen.
I haven't had much attention on Morning Doves. I'm pleased to report that I have seen some in the Gloucester area in the last three weeks. Also, shooting Thacher Island from Rockport, around the 26th of October there were three that landed near me as the sun was setting.
As far as decline, I don't have recent years to compare except for my younger years in VT in the 80s. To that end, I don't see the Morning Doves that I used to see, especiall if I have mentally tagged a dates such as the Rockport sightings. But there isn't anything scientific. As far as a CBC, I would think the Morning Doves would be out of the area by then.
I have had a pair year around here for two years. Last spring bout 30 showed up on there way through. I need to pay closer attention though to this specis.
Your the second blogger today who's posted about MODOs (that abbrev. was new to me,I like it). We have a ton of them here in southwestern Ontario. Don't know what the problem is in your area. I remember about 7-8 years ago a friend north of Detroit told me they last all their chickadees. Some virus they think, though not the West Nile that hits mainly the Corvids, so maybe it's something nasty that's passing through. Keep us posted if you find anything out!
I've got plenty here in NW PA. Many people think they're a nuisance but I like them. They are voracious but, hey, everyone's gotta eat!
Happy Thanksgiving!
We have plenty of mourning doves. In some states they are hunted..I'm sorry, I didn't know that you had more blog posts because I use a reader that follows a blog feed and your blog doesn't have the feed enabled, so I didn't see any new posts..
Rambling Woods
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