Harvest is never a particularly busy time for farm wildlife advice! With my phone growing cobwebs, what better time to down Stewardship applications and escape on holiday to Iceland?
A fabulous choice for nature enthusiasts as it turns out. As well as breathtaking close-up views of Humpback Whales and White-tailed Eagles, it was fascinating to observe our UK wintering birds at the other end of their migratory journey.
I saw a Redwing, trying to sing its unusual song through a beak crammed full of caterpillars instead of hawthorn berries. Whooper Swans looked graceful in serene family units, white plumage reflecting the soft midnight sun, black Fenland mud and beet tops washed clean away. And I could watch the Black-tailed Godwits nervously pursuing us over endless miles of empty pasture and know there was a fair chance we had already met as they passed through the Ouse Washes in early spring. It seems mums really have gone to Iceland...
Birds that choose a migratory survival strategy don’t have an easy time of it.
Take our UK Turtle Dove. Each spring it makes a 3000-mile journey from African wintering grounds over mountains, jungles, deserts and oceans. On the way each bird must negotiate a barrage of illegal shooting as they pass the Mediterranean, and battle disease carried by parasites.
Birds migrate because the rewards are high (my Redwing in Iceland has 24 hours of glorious daylight to find caterpillars for her family).
But imagine if you go to all that effort only to find the shelves are empty.
In the UK, the Turtle Dove and its chicks depend on seeds from plants such as fumitory and chickweed, plants which are increasingly difficult to find in our busy developed landscape. As a result, breeding success is low.
The population has now declined by over 90% since 1970 and its range has shrunk largely to eastern/south-eastern England, making the Turtle Dove the UK’s most threatened farmland bird.
That’s why I’ll be spending a lot of time this autumn helping farmers in the Fens participate in Operation Turtle Dove. By establishing plots of seed-rich plants in Turtle Dove hotspots they’ll be giving them the best chance to breed successfully and get fit for the 3,000-mile return journey at the end the summer – hopefully with a family in tow.
How you can help
If you think you can help Turtle doves on your land, please check out our advice for Turtle Doves online, or contact your local Farm Advisor. If you have seen a Turtle Dove this summer, call the Turtle Dove hotline on 01603 697527 to let us know where.