Turtle Doves at Fowlmere

23rd July 2015

Still quiet on the migration front so time for a quick jaunt to Fowlmere in search of some passerines. Normally the car park is one of the best sites for photography as the bushes are reasonably open and low, but today it was totally dead. From the Drewer Hide we could hear a purring Turtle Dove although several yards to the right. As we started an anti-clockwise circuit of the reserve the dove was now tantalisingly close and to make matters worse a second bird was singing from the other side of the track, also out of view.

It wasn't until we were approaching the Reed Bed Hide that I spotted two Turtle Doves sitting in full view on some bare branches at the top of a bush. The lighting was a bit tricky, but we were able to get a number of shots at different settings, so hopefully there would be one or two reasonable ones amongst them.

Then just as we were moving on a fifth bird started calling from a Poplar tree. It took some time to find it and I was only able to get one shot off before it flew. Still, mustn't grumble.

Fowlmere must be one of the best remaining sites to see the ever-decreasing Turtle Dove and let's hope that they continue to come back each year to this fantastic site.