After 12 months of trying to work out which annoying dove it is that wakes me at 4.30 in the Summer and never seeing one at home, I did hear the same call elsewhere and identified it as one of these.
On Friday the landlord sent around the "scalp brigade" and took away all my Golden Canes and lush stuff in our backyard to comply with new pool fencing laws. I was horrified and thought that would be the end of my bird visits..... but I was wrong. It seems that they all like it now that they can see what is here and this morning I heard some unusual cooing sounds and looked through the bedroom window to see a pair of these hopping around. Unfortunately it was low light and taken through two panes of glass but I am so happy to have captured an image of them at last! :')
Even the catbirds are easier to see now ... who would have thought???
How awesome to have these guys visiting your yard. Are they fairly common up your way?
Hi Gelmir, great to see you around again! from the sounds I have heard I would say they are fairly decent in numbers and even more so up North. They are very hard to see though as they don't come down to the ground in suburbia like the spotted turtle doves etc. Afterreading about them I think they must have like the fact that our yard had been cleared and they could peck around in the grass etc. They have a distinctive call and I have heard them when out bird watching and walking but never caught sight of them before. My first sighting was up at Woodgate beach when I finally managed to match the call to the bird. Since then I have noticed a few more... as usually happens LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Thanks Birdie. We get them here in Sydney too, but they aren't that common around where I live, so seeing one normally requires me to travel a bit.
Very nice Adrienne. I too wish I had these, but I really only have to go 2-3km up the road to hear and see them. (Hint Mark!) And, a bird that actually says its name as it calls. I'm a Bar-shouldered Dove! Listen next time and you can see what I mean.
Good to see you out from in front of your desk! I hate seeing lovely plants cleared for no reason, but luckily in your case it seems to have worked in your favour. A dove that called at 4:30 am would not be popular here though - it's bad enough when the baby galahs and corellas start bellowing in the early hours
Actually managed to see one finally on my walk through the suburbs yesterday ... I hear them regularly and have no pics but they are incredibly hard to see when they hide in foliage, they just blend in!
Mark, if you get these updates I just wanted to say hello and wish you good health, I am more comfortable doing so in this forum as I still feel like an impostor on P & F LOL :')
Hope you are back birding again soon.
Cheers
Birdie
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Good to see you have them birdie we have a lot of them around here, the common name for them is Pandanaus Pidgeon.
Thanks Birdie, I'm doing much better.
Good news Mark.... those waders are waiting ! :')
Sunshine Coast Queensland