Rare turtle doves have baby in new home in Minster

A pair of rare migrating turtle doves ushered to a temporary home in Kent to avoid getting caught up in improvement works have had a juvenile.

The luring process began in June through efforts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Environment Agency (EA) and Southern Water.

Concerned that noise from an equipment refurbishment site in Minster would disturb the migration process, EA staff asked Southern Water to lure the birds with special bird seed.

The process was a success, with the pair of turtle doves and the juvenile captured by motion sensor cameras installed at the water firm’s temporary site.

Nicole Khan, conservation officer at the RSPB, said the collaboration had been a success.

“Turtle doves are Europe’s only migratory dove and spend the winter south of the Sahara, so we are keen to encourage them to the UK whenever we can,” she said.

The RSPB said the number of turtle doves in the UK had fallen by 99% since the 1960s, though those breeding in Western Europe increased by 40% between 2021 and 2024.

Mike Thomas, a field performance manager at Southern Water, said that diverting turtle doves “isn’t part of my job description, but I’m always help if I can”.