It is our pleasure to invite Jonny Rankin to give this guest blog today as he is busy making last minute preparations for his next incredible fundraising journey. I type this just 2 days away from our next Dove Step journey; our most daunting yet. We have deliberately made each fundraising effort something suitably […]
Continue readingGuest blog by Dr John Mallord, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science Titan our 2014-16 satellite tagged Turtle dove was a superstar; the first UK-breeding turtle dove that was followed on its entire migratory journey from his breeding grounds in Suffolk to Mali and back again – and back to Mali a second […]
Continue readingOur ‘two turtle doves’ of Christmas may well be sunning themselves in sub Saharan Africa right now, but that shouldn’t stop you from giving them a thought and thinking about what you might be able to do over the next coming months that will provide them with a welcome return in spring. Operation Turtle Dove (OTD) […]
Continue readingDid you see last night’s episode of The One Show on BBC 1? At the end of the programme we were treated to stunning footage of turtle doves at Glebe Farm in Norfolk. The farm is part of Operation Turtle Dove and special habitats have been created to provide valuable nesting and foraging areas for […]
Continue readingJamie Wyver, from Operation Turtle Dove, comments on this week’s publication of the second State of Nature report… As our turtle doves head off to Africa for the winter this week, conservation experts have been flocking to the launch of the second State of Nature report. Fifty three conservation organisations joined forces to produce the […]
Continue readingOne of Titan’s successors, Bird 161004, has a new name! He will from now on be known as Myrtle. Myrtle was the most popular name in the naming competition run by RSPB Science. Thank you to Claire Wilson, Anne Tomma, Howard Bayley, Jez Elkin, Hannah Gumbrell, Katy Spedding, Halina Morton, Susanna Allen, Ella Wooley, Julie […]
Continue readingBird 161004 is waiting to follow in the slip stream of Titan, the first turtle dove to be tracked from his breeding grounds in the UK to his wintering grounds in Africa and back, and needs a name! 161004 is one of 6 newly satellite tagged turtle doves, which were fitted with light weight backpack […]
Continue readingSix new satellite tagged birds to build on legacy of Titan – the first UK turtle dove tracked to Africa and back Six turtle doves are being satellite tracked from their breeding grounds in the UK to their wintering grounds in West Africa, to help scientists better understand why numbers are crashing so rapidly. According […]
Continue readingOperation Turtle Dove renews appeal for help to save species in light of evidence of turtle doves’ continuing decline Operation Turtle Dove, a conservation partnership that aims to halt and reverse the decline of one of our most threatened birds, has renewed calls for farmers, landowners and nature-lovers in Eastern England to join the fight […]
Continue readingRSPB volunteer Heather allowed the RSPB Science team to catch and tag a turtle dove in her garden in 2014. Heather named the bird Titan, from Greek mythology – a god of strength, based on her observations of the dominant nature of the bird as he fed and chased females in her garden. Titan has […]
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