Conservation Manager, Stuart Benn, is back with a new blog...
Torn Between Two Plovers
Isn’t this weather just absolutely gorgeous?
It’s well overdue after that long, cold spring and a long, cold drink and a barbecue has sometimes felt like the best way to spend the day or at least the evening.
But here in North Scotland, we know that such good spells don’t last forever and we need to make the most of them by getting out and about – nature responds to the sunshine too and looks its best.
So, last week saw me heading up into the hills to do my dotterel survey. Alistair blogged recently about the work he’s doing on the birds but he can’t be everywhere at once so he has a team of volunteers to help him cover other sites and that’s where I come in.
First up on the tops were a couple of noisy golden plovers peeping away – the first of many during the day. To me, GPs always look a wee bit portly as if they’re carrying a couple of extra pounds but maybe not as much as shown in this painting by Magnus Kjartansson, an Icelandic artist.
There’s something about it I really like though the significance of the couple (bride and groom?) standing on the plover’s back accompanied by swans and a sheep playing trumpets is a bit lost on me!
Except when they are on eggs, golden plovers are amongst the most showy and noisy of hill birds and you’ll soon know if they’re about. Not so its cousin, the dotterel – unassuming might be the word for them. Smaller, slimmer, better camouflaged, quieter – it can take more effort to find one but it’s really worth it when you do, there are few more stunning birds in the UK and a day with dotterel is always one to remember.
So, I was really thrilled to find two dotterels with chicks on different parts of the hill. Unusually for birds, it’s the male dotterel that sits on the eggs and cares for the young so he is the dowdier of the pair but he’s still a splendid sight!
As with other waders, dotterel chicks can leave the nest practically as soon as they are out the egg and can run about shortly afterwards - the ones I saw could fair sprint away despite just being a few days old. Look how camouflaged it is – all that chick needs to do is crouch down and he would disappear from view quicker than the latest reality tv ‘sensation’.
I came down into the sunset aglow from my plover-filled day glad that I’d put the temptation of another burger and G&T to one side and made just that wee bit of effort to get out and enjoy nature while the sun shone.