Nova Scotia Island Journal: Mourning doves

In May 2011, after four years of life on McNutt's Island, we moved to Montreal. This blog remains, though, as a (sort of) daily record of our time on the island, and a winding path for anyone who would like to meander about among its magical places. For additional perspectives and insights I recommend Greg's book, Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia (2010), and my Bowl of Light (2012). I'll continue to post once in a while. If you do want to read this blog, one option would be to begin at the beginning of it (which is, as we all know, in blog-world, at the end), and read forward, concluding with the most recent entry. It's a journal, really, so it does makes more sense if you read it that way. But, you know, read it any way you like.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Mourning doves

The mourning dove, like the chickadee and the robin and a couple of varieties of warbler, may stay in the island's interior forest during the winter.

Now that we have begun to throw a little bird seed onto the ground, one has been coming nearer. This is only a theory. He may have just arrived from far far away.

Mourning doves are the most common song bird in North America. That doesn't make this one any less special. On a sunny afternoon this past week, his soft coo, coo came floating through our open front door. He is like the first violin, whose single note begins the orchestra's tuning before a concert.

Today we saw a second mourning dove as well. She is, we think, his mate.

Here's a picture I took on March 10, 2009 of a mourning dove sitting in the oak tree in front of the house, just where I saw one sitting again this past week.