you cant win them all

A trip to Martin down yesterday to look for Turtle doves was rather uneventful......
Upon arrival Swifts were everywhere ( worringly I have not seen many Swallows this year )
and warblers sang from nearly every bush. Sadly none of the "purring" coo which usually gives the Turtle doves location away was heard. Walking up the hill , skylarks hovered up high and a family of stonechats were just asking to have their photo taken ( I didn't manage a good photo though!!). A little higher up we met a helpful birder who told us that he had not seen much around but had heard some T doves singing down on another path. So after saying bye to the old man we headed back to the other path and made are way down - Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Yellowhammers and a lonely male Pheasant were the only birds seen. Arriving where the birder had heard them ,we waited for a few minutes but after awhile it started to rain, so we headed back to the car defeated and wet through.........

We did'nt manage the Doves but never mind, I guess you cant win them all,
A few photos to follow later on ( Don't expect em to be great lol ).