Pair of Turtle Doves in North Yorkshire – photo above © Richard Bennett
While the photo to the right may show Sean in his ‘natural habitat’ Staithes isn’t, unfortunately, ideal habitat for turtle doves, but this hasn’t stopped us in our search for them. We have managed to track down some of the wonderful Turtle Dove beer….
The turtle dove is our smallest European dove, some of which fly great distances to reach Yorkshire from Mali in Africa every spring.
Fifty years ago the turtle dove was classed as a fairly common bird, now it’s in trouble as the tiny native seeds they prefer to feed on and their preferred nesting sites are getting scares.
The North York Moors National Park’s Turtle Dove Project lead by Richard Baines of Yorkshire Coast Nature started as a volunteer project in 2016 and became a specific (funded) project (2017 – 2020) the overall project continues and is again lead by volunteers. If you are new to this project and would like to volunteer, please email the North York Moors National Park at conservation@northyorkmoors.org.u
Back to the beer we mentioned at the beginning Brass Castle Brewery in Malton have produced a limited ‘edition’ brew especially in support of the turtle doves, you can find it at the North York Moors National Park Centres at Danby and Sutton Bank.
Richard Baines has a Just Giving page if you would like to contribute to the turtle dove cause and you can’t track down any to the beer, find it here…
Or you can buy Champions of the Flyway pin badge from UK Birding Pins.
Jo Ruth produced the fabulous artwork you see on the cans, you can find out more about Jo and see more of her art work here…
Champions of the Flyway, a fund- and awareness-raising event in global birding and conservation circles which started in 2014. Over these past seven years they have shone the spotlight on the many challenging issues birds face, helping nine different Birdlife International partners in their ongoing struggle against the slaughter of migrants on the ground.
If you would like to find out more about turtle doves and how you maybe able to help create ideal habitat for them, have a look at Operation Turtle Dove.
