The First of Many

One evening, as we sat on the balcony of our hotel room, a small miracle flew in to visit us.

The bird, without the slightest hesitation, landed right on the edge of our table. It did so with such confidence that it seemed to know in advance what would happen next. And indeed it did: we tossed it a handful of sunflower seeds, and it calmly began pecking at them. We simply sat there watching, unable to look away. It was hard to imagine anything simpler, and at the same time more peaceful.

It wasn’t an ordinary city pigeon but a Eurasian collared dove. Still, they are close relatives from the same family. In everyday speech, though, we tend to call the larger birds pigeons, while the smaller and more graceful ones are affectionately called doves.

This happened almost twenty years ago. Back then I had no idea that pigeons would one day become the most frequent bird subjects in my photo archive. A recent look through my collection confirmed it unexpectedly. (Clearly, I'm on a pigeon kick lately — this marks my third post in a row about them in the Feathered Friends community!)

I had always been sure that most of my bird photos were of tits, since the many trees outside my apartment windows seemed to encourage that. But in the end, pigeons took first place quite confidently. Our many travels probably had something to do with it.

And this dove is special. It was the very first bird in my photo collection.

Thank you for stopping by! 🕊️

Tenerife, Spain.
September, 2008.
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