Stock dove

I'm nearly always the first one down in the morning, and at the moment I never know how many birds will be in the garden waiting to be fed. This morning our semi-tame pair of Mallard were on the patio and insisted that I gave them an early handful of grain to stave off the chill of the night. This attracted some of our regular pigeons and doves, including a pair of Stock Dove, who looked particularly pretty sitting in the Wild Cherry.

I always used to think of Stock Doves as being farmland and woodland birds, but in Peterborough they're quite happy in the suburbs, particularly where the houses have large gardens; they've been visiting us regularly for the last few years. They nest in holes, normally cavities in old trees but they will also use rabbit holes. They certainly breed in Thorpe Wood about a kilometre away. Stock Doves have the same general colouration as Woodpigeons but are smaller and lack the white collar and white wing bars.