A Turtle Dove has been present for the past two days in the vicinity of our House, Coleford.
Marvellous to be sat in home and listening to it Purring. Even better to see it on occasions from the Garden.
A Red-ringed Bird from 2024, but I don’t know from where it was released.

One Turtle Dove in the Langport Area recently, which I assume is from Ben Goldsmith’s release project. Fairly mobile around the area mainly on private land. A lovely sight and sound and hopefully a bird that will become more common in time.

8 doves have been fitted with GPS (no idea where in country), which should give us some idea of what they do. Previous releases elsewhere have been fed over winter on the farms as well.

Will they migrate through France for the winter? if so that will be the big factor affecting the success of the project. Could they survive a typical UK winter? Possibly.

Always thought I kept in touch with topics such as this but this project missed me completely!
Very interesting, Turtle Dove was I far as I can discern never common in Somerset my last local pairs nr Curry Rivel gave up the struggle in 1982, hardly seen a single one in county since.
In the 1970s I used to visit a friend in Nottinghamshire where they were ‘common’, sitting on almost every telephone wire! Arable farming mostly in that area, and have always thought that they favoured such habitat so it is surprising that they should be introduced into a rewilding area (East Devon with a once similar (TD) status to Somerset and farming mostly pasture) though presumably its a ‘safe’ area to start such a project? Though the effects of herbicides/insecticides are insidious as we have experienced here in Somerset so until the wider issues of the catastrophic decline in all our farmland birds are fully understood I have my concerns.
However I much admire their optimism and wish them every success…........!

Over 100 have been released this month in mid Somerset:
https://pfmpcs.com/conservationists-release-turtle-doves-in-england-after-98-decline-in-mating-pairs-since-the-1970s/

2 Turtle Doves on Saturday evening, near Witham Friary

Turtle Dove in the upper part of Westbury-sub-Mendip in afternoon and evening of Wednesday 25th June.  Seen again the following day but not since.  Photographed, so ID secure.