Image Up Advertising & Design

The Mourning Dove is by far the most common and widespread native dove in North America (the well-known Rock Pigeon is also widespread but is not native). When people go "dove hunting" they are hunting Mourning Doves. They are gray-tan overall, with black spots on the wings, blue eye rings, and long pointed tails. Seeds make up 99 percent of a Mourning Dove's diet; they eat 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per day (70 calories). Members of a pair preen each other and, after courting, build a flimsy nest of pine needles, twigs, and grass stems. The male carries twigs to the female, who weaves them into an 8-inch nest. The song is a soft coo-oo followed by two or three louder coos ("mourning"), given mainly by unmated males. Mourning Doves' wings make a very distinctive whistling when taking off and landing. Mourning Doves do a "leap-frog" migration. Each fall, the population that breeds in south-central Canada migrates to southern Mexico and Central America, thereby "leap frogging" over the year-round populations in the U.S., which migrate a short distance or not at all. Mourning Doves use many habitats and are common year round throughout Four Seasons; they come to our seed feeders and are seen during nearly every bird walk. ~ Steve Edelman Birding CLUB The Birding Club welcomes beginning and experienced birders to start or hone bird identification skills. Our main activity is a monthly bird walk along Four Seasons' nature trails, which follow native riparian woodlands. We keep a list of all species observed at Four Seasons and take seasonal field trips to nearby birding hot spots. We were hoping to see some fall migrants on this year's September walk. Last September, we spotted Nashville and Orange-crowned Warblers and in September, 2017, we had a Mountain Chickadee. But this year, nada! Migrants are around and we should see more in October. We did have some nice sightings, highlighted by our best looks ever of a Wrentit. Other highlights included Red-shouldered Hawk, singing Bell's Vireos, and good looks at Mourning Doves (our Bird of the Month). We walked less than half of the A/B trails before it got hot, but still managed 17 species. We meet on the first Saturday of the month at 8 am at the Potrero Creek (Trail A) trailhead at The Lodge parking lot. Email steve.h.edelman@gmail.com for current schedule and information. ~ Steve Edelman FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2019 37 Above: Four Seasons Birding Club on Trail B Left: Wrentit. Photo by club member Dave Kettering during our Sept. 7 bird walk Bird of the Month Mourning Dove photographed by club member John Hansen during a recent bird walk

• Cover