Valuable Resightings: Turtle Doves 'Koen' (AT) and 'Amy' (AF) Photographed on Walcheren

3 days ago

2 min read

We have great news from the field! We have recently received two public sightings of color-ringed European Turtle Doves. Since public observations with clearly readable ring combinations are rare, these reports are extremely valuable for our research.

'Koen' (AT) and 'Amy' (AF) Captured on Camera

The first report concerns Turtle Dove 'Koen', recognizable by the black code AT on his yellow color ring - spotted and photographed by Kris de Rouck.

In addition, we received a sighting of Turtle Dove 'Amy' (code AF), observed and photographed by Corstiaan Beeke. Corstiaan has already supported us with multiple valuable observations throughout this breeding season — a big thank you for that!

The Monitoring Project on Walcheren

As summer comes to an end, we are wrapping up the 2nd breeding season of our population monitoring project on Walcheren, which will span at least a 5-year period. Through this long-term study, we aim to answer key ecological questions, such as site fidelity: how many individual European Turtle Doves return to breed on Walcheren each year?

Spotted a Ringed Turtle Dove? Report It!

To get as complete a picture of the population as possible, the eyes and ears of attentive birdwatchers and local residents are essential. Have you seen a European Turtle Dove with a yellow color ring and a black 2-letter code? Report the sighting by...

Sending us a direct message/photo with the code, date and location the dove was seen. In return we can tell you more about the bird you've seen.
registering your observation on waarneming.nl - make sure to register the dove as wearing a colour ring!

The Turtle Dove Walcheren project is commissioned by the Province of Zeeland.

Special thanks to Corstiaan Beeke (photo 'Amy' / AF) and Kris de Rouck (photo 'Koen' / AT) for their vigilance and contribution!