Turtle Dove

Sunday 9th August 2009

With Jake and Andy L. I finally saw a Turtle Dove (above) in Gloucestershire this morning, at Ruardean Hill. They are becoming very scarce in the county, and having tried the usual locations of Crabtree Hill and Oakenhill several times, I had all but given up hope. The bird was perched on a spruce tree, below houses down a track next to the sports and leisure centre, GR SO635165. After that it was on to Boys Grave where there were 40+ Crossbills, 15+ Siskins, a raven, a Nuthatch and a Buzzard. The final stop was Poor's Allotment, Tidenham, where the highlights were five Redstarts, c30 Linnets, four Bullfinches, a Marsh Tit (heard), 2+ Yellowhammers, a Sparrowhawk and Holly Blue (below) and Small Copper (bottom) butterflies.

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