Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Another bird shot I am afraid, probably boring for many but personally I never tire of looking at birds.  The morning was taken up by appointments in town and then the afternoon wasn't as good weatherwise so I have fallen back on "just in case" shots from first thing.

Collared Doves first bred in this country when I was nine.  I didn't see one until my late teens and that was on Iona.  In 1930 they were confined to Turkey and the Balkans in Europe and eastwards to China.  Then in 20 years it spread to cover most of mainland Europe.  Today it can be found north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.  It has even occurred as a vagrant in Iceland.  There is no known reason for the sudden expansion of range north westward.