Saturday morning I decided to take some time to do a bit of birding for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a White-winged Dove drinking from our pond. Someone told me that this is the 13th State record for this species in Pennsylvania. This species of dove normally lives in desert scrub and dense thorny forests, but, in recent years they are being seen in towns along the Gulf coast. The dove has been present for at least three days and has been associating with mourning doves in the yard.
Several PA birders have come to search for the dove and most have had good success. It was seen first thing this morning feeding alone and it has not been seen since so perhaps it has moved on. So nice of this dove to show up on the weekend of the GBBC.