Collard Dove becomes a media star !

Blog dated 6^th Jan 2016 : Christmas Dove extends 12^th night

I had an email from the Town Clerk, Nichola, on the 6th January, to say that the electrical contractors had turned up at the war memorial (next to the Commercial Road / Church Road junction) to take down the Christmas tree lights and so allow the PWTC estate staff to subsequently remove the tree on 12th night. Surprise, surprise they found a birds nest with an egg in it !!!

I rushed down to the tree, before the afternoon light completed faded and hunted for the nest and possibly the adult bird(s). It took a while, but finally I saw a set of moving tail feathers, before a head popped out of the branches and the birds identity could be confirmed ..... a Collard Dove ( Streotopelia decaocto) :-).

I subsequently managed to get a poor quality photo in the low light and have highlighted the bird, among the foliage.

The nest and egg(s) are legally protected, from disturbance or destruction, so the bird is sitting pretty at the moment ! We will have to see if the eggs hatch, chicks arrive and they manage to fledge in due course, because this is a pretty exposed site, in the middle of town, with a lot of disturbance.

If all goes well another egg will be laid in a day or two and then it will be 14 days before the chicks hatch and another 17 days before they fully fledge; so around St Valentines day (14 Feb), maybe.

You may well ask if this is unusual to see collard doves nesting at this time of the year? The short answer is no, because I am presently aware of another collard dove nest, just 4 doors away from where I live. Additionally, a friend, living two streets away, advises me that in late December 2014, he had a collard doves nest in which the two squabbs (babies) got all the way to being just about ready to leave the nest, before a sparrowhawk (Accipter nisus) swooped down and snaffled the pair ... game over for the young chicks !

Media Star

Since the 6^th January the collard dove has become a media star, with both the local and national press printing stories, BBC news sending camera crews out to film the dove and inquiries coming into the town council office from as far away as Russia! Such is the reach of 24 hour news channels and social media these days !

Dove Update  : Thursday 28 January 2016

I visited the Xmas tree on Thursday morning, at the request of the town council, to see if the dove was still sitting on the nest. Initially the nest seemed empty; indeed sparrows appeared to be removing feathers from the nest, presumably to build a nest of their own. Fifteen minutes later I saw a collard dove on the roof of the nearby office building and watched to see what would happen. 

It took to the air…and then flew to an ivy covered birch tree in the nearby train station car park, where upon it was joined by another collard dove !

The two doves hopped around in this tree and appeared to be making pre-mating movements. 

Then a third dove arrived, which I think was another male bird, for a fight ensued between two of the birds, probably both males, whilst the other bird (female?) flew off to the Xmas tree. One male followed her, whilst the other male flew to the top of the office block.

The female went back to the nest in the Xmas tree and one of the males followed her. Neither bird stayed long, but interest was shown in the original nest. 

After this all three birds flew away. 

So what’s going on?

I can’t tell if the original nest, which is difficult to see, has been abandoned and the ‘happy couple’ are looking for a new nesting site. They still remain interested in the original nest, but neither bird is sitting on the nest, which is strange, as on 6^th January an egg was seen in the nest.

A further watch on the Xmas tree and other trees in the area, is obviously required, before I can fully understand what is happening here.

Thursday was a lovely warm day and whilst walking around the center of town I happened to see another pair of collard doves also building a nest in a conifer tree situated in local garden….which just happened to belong to the chairman of the town council J. 

These doves are obviously attracted to anything related to Paddock Wood Town Council at the moment !!!