More on the Selwyn District Spotted Dove Pop, Canterbury

[tom.b]

I use several Spotted Dove calls on youtube, one of the best being "Wild Luzon Hunter Spotted Dove Sound".
I play it on my cell phone via blue tooth to a hand held speaker. They're only in wooded vegetation and if some distance back, you'll need a few minutes of playing to get them to respond by calling back, and moving toward you. Once I've confirmed a bird is there I tend to stop playing the tape so not to disturb them too much. cheers

Thanks!

[David Lawrie]

Andrew I am sorry I have made a rookie mistake. I drove along Bealey Road on the 25th March and I saw a Spotted Dove on the power wires before we turned into Telegraph Road at Charing Cross and did not make a note of the location. I was in too big a hurry to get inland to see Crested Grebe!!!
I am also so used to seeing them on the wires around home near Auckland, that I did not think too much about it.
It is an interesting study you are doing. My home was on the fringe of the expansion out of Auckland and at first we saw one or two a year, but gradually they became more common and have spread way south.
So my apology, I will do better on my next trip south!!!

[andrewcrossland]

Hi David, no worries, but if you go on Google earth and drop the wee yellow man on the road before Charing cross you’ll see the lie of the land and it might spark a memory.
By the way - if you want to see up to 40 crested grebe tame and up close near CHCH then the place to go is Catons Bay on lake forsyth on the highway to akaroa! AC

[David Lawrie]

Andrew, i tried that and the most likely position is about 50m along Telegraph Road on the right hand side of the road on the power lines.

[andrewcrossland]

Ok, then stick an ebird plot there!!
Thx AC

[andrewcrossland]

Here's an update after another few visits. I've been systematically surveying the area shown in yellow below - however this is only along public roadsides, and there's obviously a lot of farmland and lifestyle blocks between these roads. Map of the area surveyed so far (yellow polygon) and recent sightings shown on ebird as orange dots. Following David's lead in his earlier posts I went searching and found this bird sitting happily on a powerline above Anson's Road, just up from the Charing Cross 7 road intersection:

Spotted dove Ansons Rd.JPG (20.8 KiB) Viewed 1281 times

Spotted doves 14 April 2023.JPG (141.6 KiB) Viewed 1281 times

[andrewcrossland]

A new sighting today. a spotted dove seen roosting on road side power lines and then fossicking on the ground near thejunction of State Highway 1 and telegraph Road. This is 4.5 kms away from the nearest previously confirmed location.
Location arrowed in yellow.

May 6 2023.jpg (87.55 KiB) Viewed 1192 times

Spotted Dove new map.jpg (150.02 KiB) Viewed 1191 times

[tom.b]

'Spotted' one today on Telegraph Road - up from Courtenay Road, perched on the powerlines opposite the big pine trees.

https://ebird.org/atlasnz/checklist/S136722668

[wazzagonewild]

Saw a spotted dove today while driving along old west coast road at -43.465449,172.234318. This is noteworthy in that it's quite a bit further north from previous records, potentially indicating that their range and numbers are further expanding.

[andrewcrossland]

Did you map it in ebird? Thx