Wednesday, September 14, 2005

UK Collared Dove 500 Club

I had a count of 212 Collared Doves (in two flocks) on Blackbush yesterday, and noticing an increase on the fen here this evening, I did a quick whiz round my fave ;-) Collared Dove sites and came up with the following totals -

Farcet Fen - 307 (7 flocks)
Farcet village - 11 (one flock)
Blackbush - 247 (two flocks)

Total - 565!

So, application accepted Mr Toadsnatcher.

All the flocks, apart from the Farcet village birds, were feeding in wheat stubble. I note in CBC Checklist 2000 that the largest ever flock in the county is 485 in Cambridge in 1997 - so none of these match that, but the total obviously does. I just wonder how many more of the bleeders are out there.

What an amazing story the Collared Dove is, a British bird for only 50 years. Little Egret is the nearest many of us have experienced in our own lifetime, but it will obviously never quite match the CD!

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