Figure 1 – Mourning dove in winter, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

Figure 1 is another post-storm visitor, the unassuming but, I think quite elegant, mourning dove – Zenaida macroura.  It is “mourning” not “morning” just like with Eugene O’Neill’s “Mourning becomes Electra.”The name mourning comes from the mournful sound that this dove makes, reminiscent of mourning at a funeral.  But it has other names as well: turtle dove, American mourning dove, rain dove, and Carolina pigeon or Carolina turtledove. Turtle dove, appropriately conjurers up images of Christmas as two turtle doves was my true love’s gift on the second day. For some reason I am reminded of winter boy scout camp years ago and finding a rock hard frozen partridge.

What I like about them is that they are calm and understated.  They were just sitting quietly in a tree watching the world. And in a subtle way they are beautiful.  Here again I hand-held through glass – have been experimenting with that as it is the warm approach to bird photography, and here the sharpness was not an issue.  I am also pleased with the falling flakes of snow from the branches on the right and by the warm earthy tone of the bird and the way that it complements the tree behind him.

Canon T2i EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens, IS on. ISO 1600, 1/400 sec at f/5.6 with +1 exposure compensation.