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 […]

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Hinterland – 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 […]

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Hinterland – 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 […]

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Hinterland – 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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Just the walking to go! Dove Step 2 – part 3

Here is the final part of Jonny Rankin’s blog about the epic Dove Step 2 endurance challenge to raise funds for Operation Turtle Dove and increase awareness of the Turtle Dove’s plight. Beware, it makes excruciating reading!  Having recounted our experience of the kayak and cycling legs, two thirds of our 700-mile triathlon, this next […]

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Dove Step 2 – Part 2

More from Jonny Rankin and the Dove Step team following part of the migration route of Titan, the satellite tagged Turtle Dove…  Having regaled readers with our experience of the kayak leg, the first discipline of our 700-mile triathlon, this next post moves onto the cycle leg… The quick turnover between kayak and cycle leg […]

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Dove Step 2 – Part 1

Those who have followed Operation Turtle Dove since it’s inception may have read about our previous, 300 mile, journey for Turtle Doves. In Spring 2014 Robert Yaxley and myself, Jonny Rankin, walked from Lakenheath to Saltholme RSPB reserves, covering much of the English range of Turtle Doves in the process. With the success of this […]

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