August 08, 2005
Unnatural coloring?
Have a look on the following pictures. What do You think?(Click on the images to get a bigger view)
The first two pictures were taken on the 4th of August in Muharraq, near Hidd in Bahrain.
This pic was taken on the 6th, same location. Now, this could be a Sorella eminibey - Kastanjavarpunen - Chestnut Sparrow.... BUT then I saw the dove.
This is a normal Streptopelia decaocto - Turkinkyyhky - Collared Dove but what are the following two? These were taken on the same site as the "sparrow" on the 6th.
This one was photographed on the 7th, same location.Here's my theory: There is an iron smeltar nearby - couple of kilometers - from the birding site (the only place with reeds). As You can see the whole smeltar site is reddish brown, even the smoke. (See pic below). The color is pretty much the same as in the birds. As I have also made optics I'm very familiar with the polishing rouge (iron) it is very very fine in particle size and leaves reddish stains like nothing else. (Extremely hard to wash from hands etc). So my guess is that the smeltar smoke has similar properties as the polishing rouge and once a birds feathers are stained with it they stay that way for the duration of life of a feather. I'm 100% sure that the color (rouge) would not wash away when the bird takes repeated baths in water. I have other pics of the dove(s) that show uneven, blotchy coloring in the bird, which would as the underwing suggest external coloring. Your Comments?
