The invasion of the Wood Pigeon

The last moments of autumn are draining away and soon we will be facing winter and all that it will bring. It's funny that in the summer you forget what it is like to be cold and in the winter feeling the hot sun beat down on your back is a distant memory.

I visited The Scrubs this morning to enjoy the last days of autumn that for me is signalled by the mass movements of high flying Wood Pigeons. Hardly a species that you would link with migration or any other type of local movement.

 Part of the c1,000 that passed over my head

Yet, every year at around this tine over a two week period, a varying number of Wood Pigeons appear from the northeast flying directly overhead southwest.

Against a blue sky they twinkle, their white underwings reflecting the sun's light. I think that they look absolutely gorgeous as they silent move.

Amongst their number are usually small numbers of Stock Doves. I never know that their smaller relative travelled with them until we witnessed a mammoth movement a couple of years ago. On that day in 90 minutes we guestimated that at least 15,000 Wood Pigeons had flown over with at least 300 Stock Doves in their midst.

Where are these birds coming from? Some say from Scandinavia heading to Iberia. Others say that there is no evidence of any such large scale international movement and that it is just local British birds fanning around the country.

Whatever the answer, it is one of my favourite spectacles at The Scrubs and one that I look forward to every year.