Coo coo!

I have been wanting to get this shot for a while, and I managed it this afternoon. A singing Collared Dove, throat puffed out, with the low sun of the winter afternoon lighting it from underneath, doing its repeated, three-syllable coo from an aerial, their favourite singing perch.
 I photographed two cooing pigeons today, as the Stock Doves in my local park are also very vocal, although much more coy than the collared dove, I couldn't manage a nice shot, but like how the iridescent patch in the neck spreads out, making feather stripes which are not very visible on the resting bird.

The song of the Stock dove is also cooing, but lower, bisylabic and full of effort, and lacks the purring quality of the domestic pigeon. Given how shy and unobtrusive these doves are, learning to identify their call is the best way to spot them.

Here is a nice recording from Volker Arnold in Germany: