Disappearing wild turtle doves: where have they gone?

Where have the wild turtle doves gone that once brightened every sunny summer day? We used to see them by our little brook every year, where they dusted themselves by the drinkers and purred—that wonderful song of the dove that can never be forgotten. It was a real part of summer. For me, the sound of a cricket ball on a cricket bat can only be bettered by the sound of the turtle dove purring, the cuckoo calling and the swallow twittering as it collects mud from the puddle in our farmyard. Alas, swallow numbers have plummeted, the cuckoo is an infrequent visitor and the turtle doves have completely vanished. For the sake of calm, my thoughts on the England cricket team will remain unwritten.

For today, however, I’m keen to know where the turtle doves have gone. Industrial farming is certainly one of the causes, as is manic shooting in southern Europe, but so is the chaos caused by our growing populations of uncontrolled predators much loved by semi-detached suburban bunny huggers. I haven’t seen a wild turtle dove on our farm for about 15 years. I recently received a fascinating letter from a woman in Bedfordshire attributing this to our burgeoning population of predators, which she described as the ‘unbalancing of Nature’. It’s such a good phrase that I will use it as a chapter title in my next book.

Fortunately, where sympathetic farming methods are employed, wild turtle doves can still be found in England. Recently, I went to see a remarkable farmer called Graham Denny in Suffolk, who still has a pristine local accent and continues to see turtle doves returning to nest around his farmyard every year. In 2021, he had four or five pairs; three years ago, it was an incredible nine pairs. Mr Denny loves watching, protecting and ringing birds—mixing wildlife-watching with science—assisted by his amazing wife, Jo, who has striking red hair and makes irresistible sausage rolls.

Mr Denny believes that, as I write this article, ‘his birds’ are in Senegal and, if they manage to dodge all the predators and madmen with guns, they will arrive back on his farm during the last week of April. One thing is for sure, however— whenever they arrive, they will be extremely welcome. He feeds the wild birds on his farm with grain the whole year through, not only in his farmyard, but along his hedgerows, too—this, of course, benefits a wide range of birds and animals. With his interest and skill in ringing, which he does with a group of friends, he also gets a very good idea of where his winter visitors come from, as well as his summer guests.

Needless to say, Mr Denny still also has swallows arriving in the summer—a traditional farmer with traditional birds, which is both reassuring and gives hope for the future.

Wonderful.