Figure 1 – Pigeons in flight, Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

Rock dove is a fancy name for our common pigeon.  The ones in Figure 1 were photographed in Concord, MA; so they are suburban birdsand probably drive BMWs.  As a result, they need a fancy Latin name, hence “Columba livia.”  I was watching these birds, their identity was obvious from the way they flocked and their flight pattern, as I walked along a muddy path this past Saturday at a farm in Concord.  They were obviously drawn by the remnants of September’s harvests but were quite a bit off.  But in the end my patience was rewarded when they flew frenzied past me against the background of the late fall foliage.

Birds are hard enough to photograph, but birds in flight represent a true challenge and it is more than a bit of a challenge to achieve the eyes in focus goal.  I didn’t quite accomplish it here.  But the feathers on the wings are well defined, and the seemingly random asynchronous beating delightful.  Birds always seem to be in a frenzy come October – all hurrying somewhere.  My father used to tell me that they were debating whether to go south for the winter and that birds like these pigeons debate too long.

I know that these guys will be huddling together come January, and it is a tribute to the resilience of nature that anything can survive outside in those elements.  We have ultimately to consider the pigeon quite noble.  They figure prominently in Darwin’s thought process that led to his “Origin of Species,” and for that we owe them a great gratitude.