Across the Turtle Dove’s core range in southern and eastern England, the RSPB has a team of advisors who are working with a range of dedicated people who share our passion for saving the Turtle Dove. Rick Bayne, Operation Turtle Dove Senior Project Manager from the RSPB, introduces some of the team. Operation Turtle Dove […]
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Managing land for turtle doves
Turtle doves are now making their long southward journeys to sub-Saharan Africa to spend the winter months. They may only have just left. But it’s not too early to start thinking about the things we can all do to provide them with feeding, nesting and drinking sites when they return next spring. This blog outlines […]
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 […]
Continue readingUpper Wensum Cluster Farm Group- How are we working towards Turtle Dove conservation?
The Upper Wensum Cluster Farm Group is a landscape scale conservation project set in the beautiful Upper Wensum river valley. A rare and precious chalk bed river, the group of 21 farmers (covering over 9,000ha) has a defined set of objectives to help preserve and enhance this important landscape. Along with working towards water and […]
Continue readingNew research provides farmers with techniques to help turtle dove recovery
A new research study, conducted on six farms across East Anglia, has recommended a new agri-environment management option that could help in the recovery of UK turtle dove populations. The study, carried out by the RSPB and part-funded by Natural England (through its Species Recovery Programme), found that cultivating grown seed with a mix of […]
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