Acting on a tip from my pal Phil I found myself (recovering from my exploits) down at Sunk Island this morning.
As I got out of the car, I could immediately here a wonderful sound that I hadn't heard for many years. A Turtle Dove purring or turr-turr..ing from whence it gets it's name...apparently!
The bird (or birds), I'm pretty sure I heard another (amazingly) was calling at regular intervals. While giving Bud a stretch I scanned the trees constantly but the cover was pretty thick and I couldn't SEE anything.
We went for a walk up the road. I heard purring from the adjacent bushes briefly but still no sighting.
On the way back to the garden I noticed a "bird on a wire"...
It was only there for seconds (after I'd seen it anyway) but I managed to grab this image. It flew back to the gardens and despite more scanning I didn't see it again.
As you're almost certainly aware this bird is heavily persecuted in the Mediterranean on migration with Malta being the main culprit. There does seem to have been a few more records this Spring but things are still grim. I hope things can improve in the coming years as the dinosaur hunters become fewer and further education changes the attitudes of the young. One can but hope...
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