Turtle Dove Survey - 9/6/2021 & 7/7/2021

Juvenile GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, proof of breeding in the area

Unfortunately I recorded no turtle doves on both the survey days. Its a shame as the turtle dove is declining rapidly. At the start of the millennium turtle doves were still relatively common in Suffolk, but are now very hard to find. As part of the survey I was given a square on the map to look for this bird. It was located on the edge of Hintlesham, out Hadleigh way, a path that winds itself through the local golf club. As per every golf club, there was lots of lush fertile grass, with bordering woods. However there wasn't the right type of habitat for turtle doves, who need overgrown scrub with weedy fields. I walked all over the place and I clocked up two hours worth of searching, both times, but all in vain.

The dew on the golf course burning up in the early morning sun

There was lots of wildlife about despite everything. I woke up early to arrive just after dawn. I parked up around five and soon entered the survey square. A FOX was seen roaming the footpath ahead of me. He saw me, gave me a look of 'what are you doing here, this is our time, not human time' and just sauntered off. I also encountered a MUNTJAC with fawn, I know they are a pest, vermin perhaps, but they sure look cute. A HARE briefly ran in and out across the golf course. Later on, whilst in some farmland I encountered further HARES, a pair, who gave me a look of surprise, like they've never seen a human before. This truly was wildlife time.

It was a good place for GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS, with the pictured bird, a juvenile, and another one drumming from a different wood. I kept my ear out for the purring that gives away the presence of a turtle dove, but all I could hear was the WOOD PIGEON and the STOCK DOVE.  common bird.

On the second survey morning things were a lot more quiet, with not much happening. I was tired and bored, just going through the motions, something I had to do, rather than something I wanted to do. 

So there were no turtle doves in my area, probably a statistic shared across a lot of squares. Its such a shame as they are such a charismatic presence in the countryside, one that if we changed our farming practices just a little bit, could easily accommodate them.