After a couple of years of equivocal sightings, a nest of the Eurasian
collared-dove in the towers of the grain elevators in downtown Celina
was verified yesterday by veteran atlaser Troy Shively. It is, I am
told, visible from the ground, and remain so unless it is removed by the
operators. While nesting has been suspected in several western counties,
Mercer joins only Logan County as ones with nests witnessed as occupied
by brooding birds.
        Ohio, sheltered as it is by the Appalachians, has not experienced big
invasions of this exotic species; their spread, even in Europe, has
always proceeded from SE to NW across the landscape, and they seem
reluctant to cross mountainous terrain. Even though it has been verified
in Alaska, and is numerous in the Great Plains, its numbers from central
Ohio across to the Atlantic seaboard have been modest at best and slower
to arrive. Fortunately, both here and in Europe it apparently has posed
few if any serious challenges to native birds, nor has it generally
ticked off human hosts. If they are a serious annoyance to anyone here,
I have yet to hear of it.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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