Western Rufous Turtle Dove, Otford, Kent, 7 May 2016

I cracked and went this afternoon! Having seen that the village of Otford is only a short distance off the M25 into Kent and the regular pattern of appearances of the bird it seemed a no-brainer even for someone who's more or less given up British listing. I didn't fancy getting up at crazy o'clock for a morning viewing so waited to see if it was seen this morning before heading off early afternoon.
Favourable traffic meant I was door to door in less than 2 hours even in my van. Of course that necessitated a bit of a wait but eventually other birders started to arrive. At about 16.30 the Western Rufous Turtle Dove popped up in it's favourite blossoming pear tree and was viewable at reasonable range from between houses on The Old Walk. Initially quite hidden it gave itself up for some great views. Nice to get a western bird of the race 'meena' to add to the eastern 'orientalis' bird I saw in Sweden a few years back. Maybe a split is in order!!
Also around the gardens were a single Stock Dove, Collared Doves, Woodpigeons and Feral Pigeons making is a right dove fest! A Goldcrest collecting nesting material in a blossoming cheery tree was also nice to see.
The photo below was the only hasty hand-held phone scoping shot I took.

Western Rufous Turtle Dove