WISN Surveys near Tunica, MS

We came up empty yet again for snipe.  The habitat was the worse we've seen; dry cotton fields with no pools of water.  I'm sure I will spend another night dreaming of seeing snipe...Matt says we are bound to run into them soon, as they head north from the coast.  In theory it could also be a quick event, and we could end up switching places with them after a few big days, leaving us high and dry again.  More and more I'm seeing how this snipe migration is tied to the weather, and perhaps Matt's idea of them having a "mini" migration to the coast to escape the cold may be true.  Only time will tell, though, and in the meantime, we are snipe-less, except for in our dreams.

We also checked out a township along the Mississippi, in hopes to start surveys there today, but got turned away because the entire township is basically privately owned by hunting clubs.  It was great habitat, but unfortunately we weren't let in.

Late tonight and tomorrow morning, a huge winter storm will move its way east across the mid-south.  Northern Arkansas and Oklahoma will get it worst, but we will be in the southern edge of it, which is the "wintry mix" zone.  Hopefully the temperature is warm enough in the morning to bring only rain and not ice.

There were actually a few birds of note today, including larger numbers of killdeer (mixed in with flocks of blackbirds) on dry agricultural fields. I picked up ring-necked ducks on a small pit/pond in an agr. field, and also flocks of double-crested cormorants headed for the Mississippi.  We also spotted a few Eurasian-collared doves in a few small towns, a species that has been rapidly increasing its range in the last few years. 

This strange pale collared dove  (pictured below) was with two Eurasian collared doves.  Initially, we thought it was a white rock dove, as it flew from the road to avoid the truck, but the underside was blatantly white.  It then landed on a wire with the collared doves, where I took a few photos.  The obvious guess as to what it is, is a ringed-turtle dove, likely an escaped pet, but the lighting was bad, and we did not get a great look at its undertail coverts.  From what we did see, they were pretty dark.  These birds don't have a self-sustaining population, but are escaped pets.  They can hybridize with Eurasian collared doves, which is probably the case with this individual.  Some websites also say it is just a pale Eurasian collared dove, but I have never personally seen one this pale.  It is unlikely that this is the case, as the color difference between the darker Eurasian collared doves it was with, is exteme.  Here is a photo of a similar pair at a bird feeder, the lighter being a ringed-turtle dove.  Eurasian/Turtle comparison Regardless of what it actually is, it was a beautiful bird in an otherwise disappointing day of snipe-seeking!  As far as this counting as a "life" bird-there is no real way to know for sure what this bird was, but the final conclusion is a hybrid.  Potentially in a few more years, there may be many more of these about.  Most are cuurently seen in southern cities.

potential turtle dove paler