Dennis Forsyth writes:
Like most of us I don’t really pay much attention to the feral pigeons or rock doves that seem to be so ubiquitous everywhere. Occasionally though I do pause to admire their gorgeous colouring. This past week on several trips to town I’ve been watching a pair of them at Buckley Bay. One of them, the larger, is wearing three leg bands and I’m sure that it is a lost racing pigeon. Usually these birds will stop somewhere to refuel and rest up and then continue their journey home. This one though seems to have settled in. Every time I’ve seen it it is in close company with another similarly coloured bird and I’ve decided that they are a mated pair. I think the banded and larger bird is a male based on activity. He has been gathering small sticks and other nesting material and then flying off towards the north closely followed by the smaller female. That, according to Cornell, is typical Columbidae nesting activity. The male supplies material, the female does the building. I suspect that this racing pigeon has found true love and decided to retire from the sport. Dennis
