Only the Lonely

Somewhere in the world of wildlife there must be a publication ("Fur and Feather" perhaps?) which lists gardens suitable as a place of refuge.  Mine is certainly one of them.  In the last three years I've hosted an elderly fox, a stranded herring gull and a bereaved wood pigeon(it's mate was killed in front of my eyes by a large cat).  Now I appear to have another solitary pigeon (of the street variety) moping around.  I took a second photo of it for Eye Contact in A Year With My Camera and realised how difficult it is to get eye contact from a pigeon.  They tend to look away on the assumption that if they can't see you then you aren't really there.  A strategy that human beans are also inclined to adopt.

Later- Having looked at the photo in Large I see the pigeon has a marker on its leg.  Did it go AWOL?  Perhaps it's moping because it knows it will be punished if it goes home.  I think pigeon fanciers wring the necks of birds that wander off course.

Still later - Mr Google advises it is a racing pigeon, should be fed and watered and identified by the details clipped to its wing.  Hmm.