During the summer of 2025 our market garden team took part in Operation Turtle Dove. A UK-based partnership aiming to reverse the decline of the Eurasian Turtle Dove by improving its breeding habitats. It works with farmers, land managers, and volunteers to create the specific feeding, nesting, and watering conditions the birds need to thrive. The project provides advice and practical help to create habitats on farms, in orchards, and other landscapes, and has been working with landowners to provide over 160 hectares of new feeding habitat since 2024.
Having heard the Turtle Dove calls in previous years the RSPB came to assess the Market Garden for habitat viability and feed opportunity. With the support of RSPB and the Nature Friendly Farming Network we joined Operation Turtle Dove.
The RSPB assessment came back good with many low growing arable weeds providing seeds for feeding, thick scrub available for nesting in the hedgerow and our wonderful neighbouring Dane Valley Woods, we had a strong start.
During the summer we installed a monitoring wildlife camera onsite and dropped supplementary seed in front of the camera throughout the season. We attracted many other Doves including families of Collared Doves, a rogue racing pigeon and a family of foxes. But we unfortunately did not record any sightings of the Turtle Dove.
We believe this may have been due to the felling of a dead tree in a neighbouring garden where the Turtle Dove was heard calling from in previous years, which may have made stopping by in the Market Garden less attractive.
We plan to continue managing our Market Garden with Turtle Doves in mind, this includes leaving some low growing areas, with weeds such as Fluellen and Fumitory with the intention for them to drop their seeds. And this winter the creation of a larger wildlife pond at our Market Garden site as this will add another opportunity for birds to stop by for a drink.
The fantastic news is that this year there was a successful monitoring project in Minster which makes us hopeful for next year to be successful.
