As the weather gets steadily colder, and the turtle doves that breed in the UK are all heading back south for warmer climes, Les Bunyan tells us about his summer spent photographing these fantastic birds, and his hopes that they return next year. “I’m lucky enough to be a volunteer at Titchwell and can be […]
Continue readingTurtle Dove Talk
Turtle Dove Supplementary Feeding
Dr Tony Morris, Senior Conservation Scientist, and Laura Wright, Research Assistant with the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, tell us about the research they’ve been doing on supplementary feeding for turtle doves. Why do we need to do anything? Between 1995 and 2004 the number of breeding turtle doves in the UK fell by […]
Continue readingFlying Start – new hope for the Turtle dove
Joscelyne Ashpole from RSPB explains why there is new hope for the turtle dove across its migratory flyways. In ancient Greek mythology, the European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur was purported to be sacred to Demeter, goddess of the harvest and agriculture. As a species of cultivated areas and woodland, the Turtle-dove would have been a familiar farmland sight […]
Continue readingSussex farmer supporting turtle doves
Laurinda Luffman, RSPB chair of a migrant bird fundraising group, talks about a recent visit with farmer John Ford, to see his work to support turtle doves in Sussex Most of my days are office-based at the RSPB headquarters in Sandy, so it’s always a treat to be able to visit projects and meet the […]
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Turtle doves helped by Wensum farming group
Chrissie Kelley, Head of Species Management at Pensthorpe Conservation Trust in Norfolk talks about turtle doves, farms and people… Spending time on a farm is always a pleasure but on a warm clear spring day, with a group of farmers who are really keen to make a difference, it was a privilege. The farmers are […]
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Lawford the turtle dove returns home
Dr John Mallord, Senior Conservation Scientist for the RSPB, has some great news about Lawford, one of the satellite tagged turtle doves… With all the cold weather we have been experiencing in the last two weeks, you’d be forgiven for believing that we are stuck in an extended winter. Yet the evidence is there that […]
Continue readingA letter from Gordon
Gordon is one of the RSPB’s satellite tagged turtle doves and he has been telling the readers of the children’s nature magazine Eco Kids Planet about the long journey he is preparing for, back to the UK from his winter home in Africa, and the plight faced by him and his fellow turtle doves… As Gordon […]
Continue readingAn update on the tagged Turtle Doves
Guest blog by Dr John Mallord, Senior Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science Titan our 2014-16 satellite tagged Turtle dove was a superstar; the first UK-breeding turtle dove that was followed on its entire migratory journey from his breeding grounds in Suffolk to Mali and back again – and back to Mali a second […]
Continue readingState of Nature
Jamie Wyver, from Operation Turtle Dove, comments on this week’s publication of the second State of Nature report… As our turtle doves head off to Africa for the winter this week, conservation experts have been flocking to the launch of the second State of Nature report. Fifty three conservation organisations joined forces to produce the […]
Continue readingEast Anglian turtle doves will reveal more migration secrets
Six new satellite tagged birds to build on legacy of Titan – the first UK turtle dove tracked to Africa and back Six turtle doves are being satellite tracked from their breeding grounds in the UK to their wintering grounds in West Africa, to help scientists better understand why numbers are crashing so rapidly. According […]
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