Sunday 29 May 2016

More...Turtle Dove

After a nice and much needed lie in I made my way down to Sunk Island again to look for the Turtle Dove seen previously.
 
Gavin was already down there. He'd heard it but no sightings. He had however seen an Osprey passing through!!! Very nice indeed.
 
He'd left the site when I arrived. I parked up and walked the area but there was no hint of the bird in a strong wind. After around 30 minutes I wimped out and returned to the car to listen to the Test Match. I had the volume on low and the windows down. The car was out of the wind so I felt I'd here it if it struck up. After around 15 minutes...it did. It's quite a strong sound and carries well. This can however make it difficult to pin-point in the increasingly dense foliage.
 
On my previous visit I'd managed to see it on the wires opposite, so I kept checking them as well. It was mobile as "the noise" emanated from different areas but nothing was seen in flight.
 
Eventually I managed to pick it up high in a tree...
 

 
I was later joined again by Gavin and he managed to pick it out distantly in an adjacent garden...an excellent spot pal! We both agreed that it was VERY special to have this much persecuted species so close to home. To see and hear this "sound of summer" was a very uplifting experience indeed.
 

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