We are incredibly grateful to everyone who volunteers for Operation Turtle Dove – their dedication and passion help us to achieve more. So, it’s always heartening to hear from those who so generously give their time, about the difference it makes to their lives too. This summer, father-and-son James and Reece Clissold-Bate have been part […]
Continue readingOperation Turtle Dove
More good news on Turtle Dove recovery in Western Europe – a 40% increase on 2021 numbers!
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 […]
Continue readingDouble your impact for Turtle Doves
5th December 2024 6pm update: We’ve just hit £60,000! Thanks to everyone that has donated so far. Please help us hit our £100,000 target by next Tuesday! Getting the UK ‘Turtle Dove Ready’ Between 3 and 10 December, we’re joining the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge. That means for one week only, your festive donation to […]
Continue readingTurtle Doves – Can you hear them yet?
Spring means one thing for anyone involved in Turtle Dove conservation – Turtle Doves are returning! As we write this in early April, the birds will have already spread their wings and be well into their long voyage from the savannahs of West Africa, across the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea and into Iberia and […]
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 readingTurtle Dove Action Plan – it’s just the start
In the last in our series of blogs about the Action Plan for turtle doves, Ian Fisher and Joscelyne Ashpole from the RSPB reflect on the work that has gone into the plan, celebrate the ‘Eyes on the Flyways’ conference and look to the future. For the last two years we have been pulling together […]
Continue readingWorking on the land for turtle dove conservation
The issues facing turtle doves are complex and long in the making, fully understanding these issues has itself proved difficult. The new turtle dove Species Action Plan brings together all of the latest research and on the ground knowledge alongside the necessary steps to safeguard the very existence of this species. For Operation Turtle Dove […]
Continue readingGiving Turtle Doves an extra helping (hand) – supplementary feeding
One of the top priorities within the European Action Plan for Turtle Dove is a call for emergency measures to provide more seed food for these birds on their breeding grounds. Guy Anderson of the RSPB, describes a quick and easy way this can be done. We have known for some time that shortage of […]
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