when doves cry
While out walking the trails around the lighthouse down in Cape May this past Sunday I came across an unusual, scene.
As you come around the bend in this one path you can see an open field off to your left through a small stand of trees. It's roped off so that people don't wander into what I'm assuming is private property.
Through the years I've spotted some cool stuff in that field, so I always take a minute or two when passing by to scan it closely with my lens.
As soon as I came around the bend and looked in that direction my eye was caught by a flash of white in the middle of the field.
When I lifted my lens I could see what looked like a bird flopping around on the ground.
I walked into the treeline a little to get a closer look. From that vantage point I could now see what looked like a bird blind off to the one side of the field, which I'd never noticed before and a white bird on the ground in front of them.
I quickly took several more shots of the bird on the ground and Larry and I continued our walk.
When I got home and cropped the shots, I could actually see that it was a dove in some kind of elaborate jacket.......????
It had also been tethered to a pole! ????
Larry determined from a few of the shots he'd taken that there was actually a net spread out over the spot where the dove was tethered.???
Well, you know me!
I had to know what was going on with that poor dove!
I decided to call the Cape May Bird Observatory and see if they could shed any light on what I'd seen.
A nice lady answered the phone. I told her I'd been visiting over the weekend and what I'd seen, hoping someone could give me some info!
I called the right place!
She told me what I"d seen was a hawk banding station.
The dove is fitted with a protective jacket and tethered out in the field to attract the hawks
. The hawks fly in and get caught in the netting, the people snag the hawk, band and release it.
No doves get hurt during the process.......but I still feel sorry for them!
If you are a dove, how freaked out would you be with this situation?
Probably freaks out the raptors too.
They think they're heading toward their next meal and next thing you know they're stuck in a net, pried out by humans and manhandled, get a bracelet they didn't ask for and after all that, they don't even get lunch!
Another shot in comments shows the jacket on the dove.
.
when doves cry
While out walking the trails around the lighthouse down in Cape May this past Sunday I came across an unusual, scene.
As you come around the bend in this one path you can see an open field off to your left through a small stand of trees. It's roped off so that people don't wander into what I'm assuming is private property.
Through the years I've spotted some cool stuff in that field, so I always take a minute or two when passing by to scan it closely with my lens.
As soon as I came around the bend and looked in that direction my eye was caught by a flash of white in the middle of the field.
When I lifted my lens I could see what looked like a bird flopping around on the ground.
I walked into the treeline a little to get a closer look. From that vantage point I could now see what looked like a bird blind off to the one side of the field, which I'd never noticed before and a white bird on the ground in front of them.
I quickly took several more shots of the bird on the ground and Larry and I continued our walk.
When I got home and cropped the shots, I could actually see that it was a dove in some kind of elaborate jacket.......????
It had also been tethered to a pole! ????
Larry determined from a few of the shots he'd taken that there was actually a net spread out over the spot where the dove was tethered.???
Well, you know me!
I had to know what was going on with that poor dove!
I decided to call the Cape May Bird Observatory and see if they could shed any light on what I'd seen.
A nice lady answered the phone. I told her I'd been visiting over the weekend and what I'd seen, hoping someone could give me some info!
I called the right place!
She told me what I"d seen was a hawk banding station.
The dove is fitted with a protective jacket and tethered out in the field to attract the hawks
. The hawks fly in and get caught in the netting, the people snag the hawk, band and release it.
No doves get hurt during the process.......but I still feel sorry for them!
If you are a dove, how freaked out would you be with this situation?
Probably freaks out the raptors too.
They think they're heading toward their next meal and next thing you know they're stuck in a net, pried out by humans and manhandled, get a bracelet they didn't ask for and after all that, they don't even get lunch!
Another shot in comments shows the jacket on the dove.
.