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It is very easy to take the things you see regularly, for granted. This is certainly the case with Collared Doves who are pretty much a daily bird in the garden. They were the first bird to be seen on January 1st and I have seen them on every day since. However, it wasn't until 1955 that they were first seen in the UK and they bred in that year as well. Since then they have continued to colonise the country and now are perhaps one of the UK's most noticeable birds and certainly doing very well. This is in it's self a trend breaking fact, why are they doing so well when other birds are in decline. well, they certainly make the best of the bird table offerings and also are prepared to nest in gardens.
Collared Doves though, are quite wary and will fly away strongly to a safe distance at the first sign of danger and perhaps this has helped the species to do so well. Breeding birds interestingly, lay a small clutch of just two eggs, but will then go on to have as many as 4 rounds, another interesting fact. I did read today that they will breed all year round but this is one of those internet "un-truths" that is proliferated with no basis of truth but accepted as fact by readers who trust everything they read.

These photographs were taken this morning just before the showers turned in to constant rain. Have a close look and see how the beak is black and then compare it to the Juvenile bird from my last post. This is an interesting observation because having researched and read as much as I can, I can't find any reference to Juveniles having a horn coloured beak. In addition, I have read that Juveniles have no black neck ring which is simply not true.
Look at today's photo and notice how this bird is in a post breeding moult. I t is also interesting to observe the noticeable ear coverts.