Operation Turtle Dove is a partnership including the Norfolk-based Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, the RSPB and Natural England. When the project was launched in 2012, the turtle dove's prospects were bleak. More than 360 turtle dove feeding plots have been created in 2023 - 100 more than last year - while the number of volunteers for monitoring and project delivery work has risen by 50pc. That hope was shared by Norfolk farmer and Pensthorpe Conservation Trust chairman Kit Papworth, who said: "This is a great news story about farmers engaging with turtle doves, and we hope that numbers will start to build now. But actually there are farmers doing some incredible work around Brisley in the Wensum Valley, where there are now significant numbers of turtle doves."

Source: The Times December 10, 2023 00:05 UTC