Season of the doves

The White-winged Doves are back.  They've been mostly absent from my yard for the past several weeks.  They disappear like this every year in late summer and fall.  I'm not really sure where they go but I have a theory that they are off gleaning from fields that are being harvested.  When those resources are used up, they return to the feeders.

They are not here in great numbers yet, like they will be later in the fall and winter.  I see perhaps five to ten during the day on most days now.

At the same time, I continue to have a few Eurasian Collared-doves and my resident Mourning Doves visiting daily.  Happily, I am also getting a few Inca Doves now.  They are a bit like the White-wings in that they tend to disappear from the yard, sometimes for quite long periods.  But then one day I'll hear that distinctive call, the one that some people say sounds like "no hope" but to me it always sounds like "whirlpool," and I'll know that our cutest little dove has returned once again.

A shy Inca Dove hides among the foliage.

And so, it is now dove season in my yard, but no hunting allowed!  Anyway, who would want to kill a creature this beautiful?

 White-winged Dove waiting its turn at the feeder.