It is an extra-warm and dry day, with very little in the way of a breeze. Anthony, who farms this land, drives me in his SUV to an area sparsely vegetated with arable wildflowers where seed has been put down. Anthony has farmed all his life in east Kent, and fondly remembers the song of the turtle dove being his summer soundtrack when he was growing up.
At some point, though, the breeding turtle doves disappeared from here – most likely during the 1990s – as they did on many other farms. Even by the standards of British avian losses, the statistics for these special birds are shocking: a 98% drop since 1970. In recent years I’ve worked with Anthony on the RSPB’s Operation Turtle Dove project, which aims to reverse this astonishing decline, by creating natural seed-rich foraging areas, access to fresh water and dense scrub for nesting, and providing supplementary feeding.
