Surveyor (Not on a Reserve) (Trail Camera Monitor - Turtle Doves (West Sussex))

The Turtle Dove is the UK’s most threatened breeding species. The population fell by 95% in the UK between 1995 and 2018 and they have disappeared from more than half of the breeding range they occupied in 1970.

As part of Operation Turtle Dove, we are working with farmers and other landowners to provide turtle doves with the habitat they need to thrive. There is lots to do and we need your help to cover as much ground as possible.

We need someone to:

• Visit trail camera(s) at least fortnightly and ideally weekly to swap the SD card and check that the camera is still positioned and functioning properly (batteries, vegetation etc.)

• Notify landowner/farmer by text in advance of visits to advise of your presence on site.

• Check through all the photos on the SD card for turtle doves and other notable species. There can be hundreds (or even thousands) of photos.

• Email a summary of the species seen to the farmer after each visit (if required), and copy in your line manager.

• Save the retained photos to a memory stick (supplied) so that this can be given to the farmer as a record at the end of the season. Keep a back-up in case the memory stick is lost.

• Record all turtle dove records onto a spreadsheet (supplied).

What’s In It For You

• The chance to visit sites which may not have public access and the possibility of seeing turtle doves and other farmland wildlife.
• The satisfaction of knowing your skills are helping save a top conservation priority species.
• A motivation to connect more with nature!

You’ll Need:

• General fitness, as may have to walk a kilometre or more to the camera site, depending on accessibility by car.

• To be comfortable with lone working on possibly remote countryside sites.

• Use of own car (unless located close to camera site and able to walk/cycle/bus).

• Ability to use email and send photos as attachments and/or use file transfer software.

• Working knowledge of common farmland birds.

• Patience and skill to look through large number of photographs and spot turtle doves, sometimes in a flock with other dove species.

• To be reliable and courteous – will need to deal directly with farmers to arrange visits to check cameras.

• To respect confidentiality of personal details and biological data.

• Ability to download photos from an SD card to a computer and to sort, label and store them.

• Preferably be able to use an Excel spreadsheet on your own laptop/PC.

For more information, contact:

Valentina De Biase www.operationturtledove.com Volunteer Co-ordinator at Operation Turtle Dove

Email: valentina.debiase@rspb.org.uk