Our scrapes have proven popular with a wide range of birds with everything from ducks to geese, gulls, waders and more taking advantage of the habitat. However, you may already be aware of a very special species from last year – the little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius). Their successful breeding was a first for the reserve as they reared three chicks to fledging; a cause of great celebration for everyone at Lochwinnoch.
Little ringed plovers are interesting not only in the context of Lochwinnoch but the UK as a whole. It was only in 1938 that a nesting attempt was first recorded in the UK at a reservoir in Hertfordshire. Since then, the number of breeding pairs increased to around 600 in England and Wales in the 1980s and in 2007 there were over 1200 pairs with 22 of these now in Scotland (Conway et al., 2018).
Because of the rarity of these birds, they receive extra protection and are a Schedule 1 species, meaning it is illegal to disturb the birds while they are nesting or rearing young. As little ringed plovers are ground-nesters they are particularly prone to disturbance and if they feel threatened may abandon their nest completely. Due to this, their presence at the reserve last year was initially kept quiet to maximize the chances of them successfully breeding. Although the secret may be out this year, we remind visitors to be mindful of nesting birds during the breeding season, whether that be keeping dogs under control, sticking to the paths and not getting too close to areas where birds may be nesting.
Little ringed plover - Credit: John Stevenson
We’ve been keeping our fingers crossed that with spring we would see another year with little ringed plovers at the reserve and, lo-and-behold, they’re back! This week has seen the arrival of not one bird, but three! We’ve already seen the aerial displays of the pair and their attempts to drive off the third bird meaning our hopes are high for another successful breeding season. As little ringed plovers often return to the same breeding site year after year it may be that this pair is the same one as last year, and the third could even be one of last year’s brood.
So, if you come to Lochwinnoch do you know what to look out for? Identifying a little ringed plover isn’t the easiest task especially if you’re viewing the bird from a distance or without the aid of binoculars. Little ringed plover are very similar in appearance to their close relative the common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) and to make matters worse, both species can be seen at the reserve. In fact, the specific part of the LRP’s Latin name ‘dubius’, refers to the fact that it was dubious whether the little ringed plover was a species in its own right or just a subspecies of ringed plover.
Although, as the name suggests, the little ringed plover is slightly smaller the size difference isn’t particularly striking and won't be clear if the two species aren’t side by side. Instead, look out for a bright yellow ring around the eye and a dark beak – ringed plovers lack the eye-ring and instead have a bright orange beak. Timing can be important too – you won’t see a little ringed plover here in winter as they’ll be spending the colder months in Africa.
Photo of the LRPs and ringed plover side-by-side to show the differences - Credit: John Stevenson
We hope you’ll enjoy watching the antics of these little birds and that you’re just as excited as us to see what the months ahead hold!
Written by Lauren McLean
Volunteer