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 […]
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Reflecting on 2019
Thanks to dedicated research, we know that turtle doves are now far from the chilly UK. They have swapped the hedgerows and fields of the UK countryside for sub-Saharan Africa where you’ll find them in dense Acacia thickets where they roost and open grasslands and fields where the birds feed up. To find out more […]
Continue readingManaging 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 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 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 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 […]
Continue readingAsking questions and trialling solutions – the importance of science in our work to save the turtle dove
In our series of inspirational Action Plan blogs, Tony Morris from RSPB highlights how research is a key component in the conservation toolkit for our work on turtle dove. I am Tony Morris, the Principal Research Manager at RSPB’s Centre for Conservation Science. Although my job is now largely desk-bound, once upon a time, not […]
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