Sandlo / Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

With the arrival of the Gitzo and Wimberly in the airfreight last Friday, it seemed a waste not to revisit Tungenes again for the Nothern Wheater and Common Ringed Plover or whatever else the area might have on it's shores.

We reached the site in about 32 minutes from home greeted by a bright but cloudy weather. There was nobody else on location other than several families visiting the lighthouse, I guess it was still too early for summer trippers.

The plover seemed more skittish than the previous visit but stayed around within safe distances. It made several alarm calls and executed broken wing ruse to lure us away from their expected location.

Only realised that there was a nest nearby after observing one of plovers sitting on the grassy part of a patch not far from where we set up the tripod. A bonus definitely to be able to observe it on the nesting, what might also be young plovers in a few weeks time.

There were other birds in the area as well. Northern Wheater was busy bringing insects and larvae to it's nest to feed it's brood. It too had an elaborate ruse to confuse would be predators to the actual location of the nest. The situation is better for the wheater since the nest is well hidden, as opposed the the plover's which is well out in the open and rather prone to disturbance.

There were also several families of Common Eider at the water's edge each with 4-5 fluffy ducklings. The ducklings were busy foraging just below the water. It looks to be going well for the ducks, hopefully it'll be the same if not better for the plovers.