Until recently, reports of Eurasian collared-doves, including nesting, have come with regularity in Ohio, most of them in the far west, but more recently some from the Bobolink area. Are these birds just receding into the background in the west, or have they actually declined in numbers there? I've also heard that in Celina, up to recently a reliable spot, that what are likely escaped ringed turtle doves have joined them, and hybrids are being seen. What about CBC numbers?--are they up or down along the Indiana border? When the first birds in any numbers were confirmed in the state a few years back, they showed up along the Indiana border; in fact Indiana had its first birds long before Ohio. It was thought our birds were a sort of backwash of local nesters from the doves' overall headlong dash NW. In Europe, collared-dove invasions showed two features: (1) they nearly always expanded to the NW, and (2) they avoided mountainous regions. This played out in North America when the first doves showed up in Florida. They showed up in Alaska before we could verify the backwash individuals from Indiana, having been thwarted by the Appalachians on their way northwest, we thought. The growing number of sightings in and around Wayne Co could easily have arrived in a continuation of the backwash. This year Franklin County had its first solid records. Yes, we'd had isolated enigmatic reports over the past thirty years, but never a good description or photo. This year one was photographed 6/25 in the eastern part of Prairie Oaks MP, and on Christmas a pair was discovered along Alum Creek. It could be that part of the population that first colonized western Ohio is gradually expanding to this county along with those showing up in Amish country. Maybe the CBC numbers will help with this guess. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]