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.

I wonder whether the same mourning doves come to the island year after year. I imagine they do.