Rick Bayne, Senior Project Manager for Operation Turtle Dove, reflects on good news for the species. It’s that time of year again when anticipation builds around the imminent return of migrant bird species that use the UK to breed and raise their young. Whilst Chiffchaffs already seem to be everywhere and there are widespread reports […]
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Water = Life. Restoring ponds to help nature thrive on farms
Whilst providing accessible and abundant seed-rich habitat is the most crucial element for Turtle Dove conservation in the UK, access to fresh water is also important. Mark Nowers, Operation Turtle Dove’s adviser for Essex, explores our work with farmers and partners in Eastern England. There is something magnificent about a pond, especially on a sunny, […]
Continue readingGiving the gift of hope: How hundreds of farmers and volunteers across South East and Eastern England are helping to save rare Turtle Doves
As 2023 comes to a close, we’re reflecting on the fantastic efforts that have been made this year to support Turtle Dove conservation. Hundreds of UK farmers, landowners and volunteers are helping to give the gift of hope for Turtle Doves, working with Operation Turtle Dove to provide better nesting and feeding habitat for the […]
Continue readingWorking with farmers to provide seed-rich feeding habitat for Turtle Doves
Turtle Doves will be heading off on their autumn migration to West Africa over the next few weeks. We’ve just had the great news that their migration will again be safer owing to continued hunting bans in France and Spain. Now is a great time to think about what you can do to welcome them […]
Continue readingOperation Turtle Dove Christmas 2021 Blog
Guy Anderson, RSPB Thanks to a certain Christmas song, turtle doves are forever associated with this time of year. Just one example of how frequently they crop up in our music, art, and literature. A bird that punches well above its weight in the heritage of human cultures all across its European and Asian breeding […]
Continue readingCrossing borders to learn more about turtle doves
Jos Ashpole from the RSPB reflects on a growing partnership for turtle doves between the UK and the Netherlands. While we are now in the depths of winter, in this blog we’ll head back to a beautiful summer’s day when my colleague Tony Morris and I set out for the green Suffolk countryside. Our travels […]
Continue readingUpper Wensum Cluster Farm Group- feeding trials update
By Eliza Emmett – Upper Wensum Cluster Farm Group’s advisor The influential work of the Upper Wensum Cluster Farm Group continues to grow and develop. The landscape-scale conservation project now consists of 22 farmers and covers more than 9,000 hectares of the cherished Upper Wensum river valley in Norfolk. In our spring blog, I shared […]
Continue readingHinterland – Garden
In the final instalment of Jonny Rankin’s series on ‘hinterland’ habitats for turtle doves, he celebrates the garden. Having celebrated scrub and quarry, the last of my hinterland habitats is garden. As a loud and proud turtle dove advocate, I occasionally receive invitations to see turtle doves on people’s land, sometimes even in gardens. On this […]
Continue readingHinterland – Quarry
In the second of his series of blogs celebrating the turtle dove, Jonny Rankin recounts an unforgettable discovery. Just days after my first turtle dove of the year on the forest edge, I took the opportunity to walk around a nature reserve adjacent to a working quarry, looping around the northern edge of the reserve […]
Continue readingHinterland – Scrub
In the first of three blogs about turtle dove habitats, Jonny Rankin celebrates scrub and potentially one of his bird watching highlights of the year. My first turtle dove of the year was adjacent to a beautiful cottage – a cottage deep in thick cover in a section of treed scrub on the forest edge […]
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