A study in doves for those who like birds

[Maestro]

I spent three weeks of June mostly on the road visiting family and different wildlife areas. One of my favorite places to shoot is down in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. I have a ton of new shots that I am trying to process before getting back to work, but I will start with some doves. There are quite a few different varieties that occur in the USA with the mourning dove being the most common.



Here are some others that all take up residence in the Valley of Texas.

White Winged Dove (actually extends out through the west and a bit to the east in the winter months)


Getting a drink


The Ground Doves were in abundance.




As were the Inca Doves in large numbers.






Even the White Tipped Dove made a few appearances. These are large doves that are only found in the LRGV of Texas.




Doves actually are quite photogenic when you can catch them away from city parks or yards overwhelming other birds and people. :)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Maestro!

Wow...

The getting a drink pic is amazing!

And the Inca doves look like the bark they were sitting on...

All of these are just astonishing...

You should be selling these, seriously!

Thank you so much!

:wow:

[Maestro]

8. Thanks Peggy.

Maybe some day I will be able to sell more, but at this point I have sold a whopping one photo that wasn't to family or friends. :rofl: And the one I sold wasn't even a bird photograph.

[Inchworm]

2. Mourning (Morning) Doves are my favorite

coo coo coo

Super pictures. Thanks for sharing. I love the "getting a drink" one.

:yourock:

[Maestro]

9. Thanks Inchworm

That one did turn out quite nicely.

[WinkyDink]

19. That's my fave! The eye!

[Maestro]

37. That seems to be the popular one.

Thanks for looking.

[texanwitch]

3. Great pics.

The top 3 type of doves visit my bird feeding area.

I love the sound they make, and the blue around the eyes.

[Maestro]

13. Thanks Texanwitch

The white-winged and mourning doves are probably the most abundant here in Texas and the to west.

[Maddy McCall]

4. Gorgeous.

Beautiful photos.

[Maestro]

15. Thanks Maddy

I'm glad you liked them too.

[RushIsRot]

5. I was not aware of all the varieties. Thanks for the great pictures

as well as the IDs.

Do you work from a blind? My local doves scatter the minute I step out the door.

[Maestro]

16. Some of the time I work from a blind

and other times I do not. Most of my photos posted on my website are not from a blind, but some of the very close shots are. Some birds just will not allow a close approach unless you are somewhat camoflouged. All of these were from blinds except the white tipped dove on the ground in the shade.

[XemaSab]

6. What, no Red-billed Pigeon?

:shrug:

:P

[Maestro]

17. I tried.

Just wasn't going to happen. :)

[XemaSab]

29. Me too...

I need to go back to Texas for Rusty Blackbird, Mexican Crow, Masked Duck, Muscovy Duck, Aplomado Falcon, Hudsonian Godwit, Hook-billed Kite, Smith's Longspur, Tropical Parula, Red-billed Pigeon, Sprague's Pipit, Attwater's Prairie-Chicken, Yellow Rail, White-collared Seedeater, Henslow's Sparrow, Bridled Tern, Philadelphia Vireo, a bunch of warblers, and American Woodcock.

If you'll allow me to whine for a minute, the problem with being over 600 is almost all the stuff you need is the tough stuff. :(

[Maestro]

30. Wow 600! Now the real challenge begins.

When I sat down with the owners of the ranch I visited the hook billed kite came up in conversation, but I didn't have enough time to head about 1 further south to try to get it.

[marzipanni]

7. I hear mourning doves in our neighborhood occasionally

but in seventeen years I had never seen any in our back yard.
Several years ago my husband buried our dear old dog under a big tree. I opened the back door the next morning and there were a few mourning doves pecking around not far from her grave, so I didn't move and watched them for a while. After their little visit I felt a little less sad.

Your photographs are beautiful.

[Maestro]

22. Strange

If you hear them, and knowing how much that habituated to humans, you would think they would show up begging for food. Because of their call, the mournful "coo, coo," they are named as they are named. That is bittersweet story about them showing up at your dog's grave. Thank you for the comments.

[TZ]

10. Great pics

I can't recall off the top of my head the particular dove species, but I remember when I was in Aruba we had a dove that liked to sit on our balcony quite close to the window..Unfortunately I never got a good shot of it..but it had a really delicate pink shading to it..beautiful:)

[Maestro]

24. Could it have been an eared dove?

Not sure. Thanks for looking.

[TZ]

27. I think it was an eared dove, thanks

But I couldn't find a picture that did it justice..:-(

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. thanks Maestro, just like the white winged dove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6sQ56i-cJ4

[Maestro]

23. I just downloaded that song off iTunes.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip! What times those were in the heady 80s! I'm glad you liked the photos.

[lost-in-nj]

12. as always

magnificent pictures


thanks

:hi:

lost

[Maestro]

25. Thanks lost

:hi:

[BarenakedLady]

14. I love doves

I have a several pair of mourning doves around here. Coo Coo Coo

:thumbsup:

[Maestro]

26. Thanks

And that cooing is one of the most recognizable bird song around. :hi:

[woo me with science]

18. These are really lovely.

You capture them so well. The blue around the eyes makes the picture.

[Maestro]

31. Thank you so much antfarm

I've been working on my technique.

[tigereye]

20. great pix, Maestro!

the distinguishing characteristics are so easy to see!


I love the blue ring around the eye of the White Winged dove!

[Maestro]

32. The white winged dove

was the most photogenic for me and I also liked the deep red eye of the inca dove.

[Kat45]

21. Beautiful pictures, but isn't the rock dove the most common one?

They're so common that most people don't even know that they are doves! :D

I love the pic of the bird drinking.

[Maestro]

33. Oh yes, the rock dove or pigeon is certainly the most

common. And once again, they can be quite beautiful with all the different color variations and such, but they are so common and tend to poop on so much stuff that people overlook them. Thanks for looking.

[Zuiderelle]

28. I love the one of the dove drinking.

What great pics! :thumbsup:

[Maestro]

35. Thanks.

I appreciate it.

[uppityperson]

34. Very nice pictures. I love that drinking one. Grew up with mourning doves, now have ring-necked ones

in a flight cage at my house. Mr goes "who whooooo", she goes "uh", who whoooo, uh, who whoooo, uh. All day long. It is very nice to hear and they are dainty and friendly birds.

The feathers on those Inca doves are very interesting. Nice pictures, thank you.

[Maestro]

36. Any time.

I enjoyed taking the pics.

[Call Me Wesley]

38. Gorgeous shots!

We just rescued a baby black bird who tried to fly way too early. Stayed in a cage for some days hanging in a tree and was fed by its parents. Today, I let it free, and it flew right into hi tree (were the nest is,) followed by its mom. :)

I took some pics, but it was really scared.

[Maestro]

40. That is a great story

with a happy ending. I am glad it worked out. Maybe the birds have learned that not all humans are jerks. ;)

[Call Me Wesley]

42. Hopefully.

But as I said, when I came to take pictures, he/she sure hated me. ;) We just have these predator's eyes, I guess.

[NNN0LHI]

39. If they were just a little smarter it would make my life so much easier

I got a cat. We just about have him completely trained not to kill anything (Which wasn't easy. It took years of working with him) when he goes outside to eat grass for his hairball problem. Then some dang mourning dove oblivious to his surroundings and danger will land right near the cat while the cat is wagging his tail (I've seen it with my own eyes) and then proceed to walk right up to the cat. Cat can't resist that with no amount of training so then Don has to try and get the dove away from the cat before he does too much damage to the bird. Its a real mess. I bet I look like a nut outside chasing after the cat with a dove in his mouth yelling and waving my hands.

Don

[Maestro]

41. We have to put bells on our cats.

Luckily, we don't have any doves that boneheaded. Although I am picturing the scene in your yard and it does seem funny.

[SoDesuKa]

48. Maybe That's Why They're In Mourning

If the birds are dumb enough to come right up to a cat, they can't have much of a life expectancy. It's an unusual cat that has been trained not to chase birds. So if the birds are still bothering the cat despite the training, they can't be too bright.

[Haole Girl]

43. I love the bird getting a drink!!

They are all wonderful, but I really enjoyed that one. You took all of them, I assume?! Magnificent! :D

[Maestro]

45. All mine.

I have weeks worth of other photos to process. I will be posting them a little bit at a time for birders around DU and those who just like photography. Thanks for the comments.

[Shine]

44. Wow! It's cool how the mourning doves' eyes have the blue around them

almost looks as if they could be "tears" from "crying". Interesting.

:hi: :yourock:

[Maestro]

46. Thanks Shine

Like I said above somewhere, most doves really like to put on that colored mascara. :)

[Heidi]

47. These are just beautiful!

Thank you, Maestro! I don't tell you often enough how much I love your work. :thumbsup:

:yourock:

[Maestro]

49. Thanks so much Heidi

You are very kind.