Two Turtle Doves

Yesterday morning I was delighted to find a Ringed Turtle Dove strolling around my back yard. The doves we usually see in Tucson are Mourning Doves and White Winged Doves. Both of our common doves have black cheek stripes and blue eye rings and are darker gray than the Ringed Turtle Dove. The black collar and lack of cheek stripes are the most diagnostic features of the Ringed Turtle Dove.

This is only the second time I have seen a Turtle Dove. They were domesticated in Los Angeles from an African dove species. The ones we see are escaped or released pets or their descendants.

The really weird thing is that my fabulous client, David Kuster, emailed me a photo he took of a Ringed Turtle Dove in his yard just a hour after I took my photo! David's dove has a darker neck ring. Maybe it's more mature than mine? Anyway, I thought that was remarkable because David had never before emailed me a photo of anything.

Update: Just got this from another fabulous client, Jonathan Horst.

Hope you're getting rain tonight; sprinkling here.

I think the bird you saw is a Eurasian Collared Dove - their range is spreading pretty quickly and they're getting more common each year in Tucson (the first I saw was four years ago; now they're all over my back yard). Might be a Ringed Turtle Dove, but that'd be a super-rarity. And apparently they're generally difficult to tell apart (song is easiest) though this page is helpful : http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/EucdovRitdovID.htm
I could be wrong though, maybe it's a Turtle Dove...if so, rare bird indeed.
Jonathan's an ecologist, so he knows what he's talking about.

I sent photos to the Rare Bird Alert at the Tucson Audubon Society.  I received this very informative email from Andrew Core:

Thanks for the pictures. Ringed Turtle-Doves are occasionally released into the wild and have on a few occasions bred in Arizona, but they don't show any signs of becoming established; their numbers are continually replenished by more releases.
However, the two pictures show what I think is the closely related Eurasian Collared-Dove. Only a view of the underside of the tail would be conclusive, but Eurasian Collared-Doves are generally darker and a little larger than Ringed. Eurasian Collared-Doves have a very interesting history in the United States. You can read more about them here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Collared-Dove/id

Okay, so not as rare as I thought, but Turtle Doves just the same.

July Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has published the residential sales statistics for July. The news remains encouraging for sellers, and may motivate some buyers to get off the fence.

Average sale price was $181,978, which is a 4.11% increase in only one month, and a 5.1% increase from a year ago. Even more shocking, the average sale price was 21% higher than when it hit bottom in September 2011. Average sale price is now slightly higher than it was in January 2004, just before the bubble started to inflate. Historically, prices peak in July, and if past trends are any indication of future performance, prices will now go into a slide until next February. Probably nothing dramatic or destabilizing, just the normal annual cycle.

The median sale price, the price at which half the sales were higher and half were lower, remained steady at $140,000 for the third month in a row.

Number of units sold (demand) typically peaks in June, and this year was no different. With 1,137 units sold in July, we saw a decrease of 10.4% from June, but demand was still 1.16% higher than a year ago.

Active listings (supply) was virtually the same in July (3,477) compared to June (3,474), but was down 36% from last July. The limited choice of houses for sale has created bidding wars that will continue to prop up sale prices in the under $150,000 market.

We now have a three month supply of listings. This time last year, we had a 4.81 month supply.

Foreclosures accounted for 26% of the sales in July, and 17% of the sales were short sales.

Odyssey Storytelling

This very cool group just received a rave review from the Tucson Weekly.

I am especially proud that one of the producers of the event is my client Adam Hostetter.

Male Quailathon

Seven male and one female Gambel's Quail warm up for a little-known Olympic event: Rhythmic Drinking.

I had to wonder how this one female (second from right) got on the team. Is she these guys' sister? Mother? Wife?

That's a Mourning Dove waiting for his tardy team mates in the lower bowl. He ended up forfeiting because Team Dove was a no show.

At Our Border

Tucson and the State of Arizona have been in the news in recent years for reasons that give the world an inaccurate impression of us. Those of us who live here, especially in Southern Arizona, know that most people are kind and accepting. We are dismayed by the hatred, violence and bigotry that grab the headlines.

I recently had the honor of helping an amazing group of people, Casa Mariposa, buy a home where they will provide hospitality to people who have been released from detention. I was introduced to this group by one of my fabulous clients, Hannah Hafter. You can see her in this PBS video at 13:00.

While the focus of the video is the alleged abuses of immigrants, the bright spot is the generous people who are helping people who weren't lucky enough to be born on this side of the border.

Another Out-of-State Client Planning to Retire Here in Paradise

You're easily the best real estate agent I've ever worked with, so I know people like you aren't easy to find (not just saying that; it's very true).

-Jane Marcellus, PhD

Horny Toad

I walked up Tumamoc Hill this morning and was rewarded with the sighting of this Desert Horned Lizard. At least I think that's his species. Check out that spiky collar! I think he'd be a scratchy snack for a coyote or bobcat.

He was very patient and brave, allowing me to inch closer and closer until my camera was less than a foot from him. I sat down, and we probably would have stared at each other all morning, but I offered him some of my water. That was too much interaction for him, and he trundled away.

I have been told that Tumamoc means Horny Toad in Tohono O'odham.

Every day I find another reason to be grateful that I live in Tucson.