Turtle Doves - Glen Clova - How likely? (1 Viewer)

Got a bit of enforced free time just now & going through some old scraps/notes etc. and found one referring to a possible turtle dove sighting on a bike ride up Glen Clova.
Maybe one for Delia this as it's her neck of the woods - but is this possible? Have any sightings been reported in this area?

It was last July, I was riding back down the road on the east side of the glen when I saw the birds (a pair) in a tree on the edge of a small stand of birches. I stopped the bike, but by the time I'd done so & clambered over a barbed-wire fence into the copse the birds had flown fifty yards further into the birches. I followed but couldn't get another good view - no bins - and ant time I approached within maybe 25 yards the birds were off. I'd no time to stalk them further as my wife had continued cycling down the glen.
The birds were the size of the collared doves I see regularly in my garden down south, but were definitely much "redder" or should that be russeter! Unfortunately I didn't note the tail pattern at the time.

As I say, are turtle doves possible in that area?

Highly unlikely but ............... possible ( if you reeeeeeeeeeeeally stretch the meaning of the word ) . Turtle Dove ar becoming scarce even within their heartlands and further north are usually thought of as vagrants ( even in England ).

Chris

Yes, I really thought not.
I live in leafy Buckinghamshire and have never seen a turtle dove despite visits to sites formerly good for them.
I'll have to put this sighting down to collared dove and wishful thinking!

Yes, although Turtle Doves occasionally appear that far north on migration it does seem a bit unlikely for a pair to be there. The habitat is not ideal for them up Glen Clova either. However, collared dove also seems a little unlikely unless it was close to some houses or a farm. I wonder if it could have been something other than a dove, but of similar size and shape? Mistle Thrush and Cuckoo both spring to mind as possible species for the location.