April 28th

This week there have been flocks of migrant golden plover passing through. We have golden plovers here with us all winter, with a flock of 200-300 regularly roosting on the rocky shore at Sauchope or on the old airfield. They tend to drift away during March, suggesting they might be UK breeders. In April the golden plovers that breed in the Highlands are either back on the tops of the hills, or in flocks in the pasture fields below them, waiting for the weather to get a bit better. But in April we then get golden plovers passing through to the northern breeding grounds in Iceland, Scandinavia or Russia. These birds are much more striking than the UK breeding birds, with not just black bellies, but a thick black front to their neck and a completely black face. Much more black and contrasting, so that it is obvious even in a flock flying over at this time of year. I have been seeing flocks of northern golden plovers this week on the airfield next to Kilminning, at Balcomie, and today at Boghall Farm in the big sheep field that runs down to Red Sands. These “goldies” were also uncharacteristically tame – not a thing I associate with our wintering golden plovers – staying put, although alert, in the field as I walked along the coastal path forty meters away. If these birds have been wintering in a quiet part of North Africa, and breed in an equally quiet part of Iceland or Norway, then perhaps they are not worried by people. Golden plover are still legally hunted in the UK and parts of Europe (France, Spain, Italy…) so have a lot to be wary of. Regardless of how many birds are shot and whether this makes no difference to the overall population in the long run – shooting makes birds wary and avoid people. It’s equivalent to a massive reduction in habitat: hunters confine their prey to the margins. A golden plover that has been shot at during its life is not going to be distinguishing between “bad” and “good” humans – they will follow the precautionary principle. The result is inevitably populations with fewer options, and greater energy demands as they keep out of the way of people (and we are more or less everywhere). And of course, not so much fun for those of us that might like to see the birds close up, unworried and on our doorsteps.

Two northern golden plovers at Boghall this morning. These two are still moulting into their full black underparts, but still have their characteristic very black faces

The one on the left is more like a British breeding golden plover, but I think this is just less advanced on its moult and also perhaps a female, that have less black faces