A beautiful film has been compiled of turtle doves in and around Langdyke’s Etton Maxey nature reserve
It has been made for Operation Turtle Dove, the RSPB and Langdyke who have been working jointly together to provide a safe haven and additional feeding for the birds.
There is no evidence that the birds have bred on the reserve, although young have been spotted, the supplementary feed is an important part of their survival.
The turtle dove is now the UK’s most threatened breeding bird. It’s population has fallen by 94 per cent in the UK since 1995 and they have now disappeared from more than half of the breeding range they occupied in 1970. These birds spend the winter in West Africa before returning to the UK countryside in spring to breed.
Turtle doves feed almost entirely on seeds on the ground. They need low plants and patches of open ground where they can find the seeds. In areas where there is a lack of natural seed, supplementary feeding is used as an important emergency conservation measure in areas where turtle doves are known to breed.
Providing the birds with a specially formulated mix of seeds helps ensure that they have sufficient food when natural sources are scarce. As part of Operation Turtle Dove Lngdyke provides supplementary feeding at the Etton-Maxey Reserve. Between April and September, volunteers from LCT scatter the seed out at specially designated areas three times weekly.
The purring song of the turtle dove is a quintessential sound of the summer, but sadly one that is increasingly becoming rarer. As a result of the work the Etton-Maxey Reserve is one of the best places to see and hear turtle doves in North Cambridgeshire.
Volunteers who have taken part in the feeding programme this year include Ian Wilson, David and Jill Cowcill and Keren and Mick Thomson.
You can view the video, which has been filmed by Simon Watts, on Langdyke’s YouTube channel here
Read more about Langdyke’s involvement with Operation Turtle Dove here