Country diary: Collared doves are such a success story - especially in our garden | Phil Gates

Crook, County Durham: They're determined breeders, but I can't help but feel anxious watching them nest precariously in the leylandii cypressA pair of collared doves in close formation glide in an elegant arc over the garden hedge and, with an angelic raising of wings, stall their flight and perform a feather-light landing. We used to see a lot of them, fewer in recent years. There's a suggestion that the species has suffered from the same trichomonosis parasite that has afflicted greenfinches. Competition from wood pigeons - increasingly frequent garden visitors - might have been a factor too.And here come the wood pigeons, arriving with a bouncy crash-landing, waddling up the garden path, all bluster and swagger. They're already nesting in our ivy-clad silver birch. Both species are beneficiaries of a trickle-down economy, bestowed by finches scattering seeds from the bird feeders I've just refilled. Continue reading...