On one of my recent solitary physiotherapy walks, I noticed the plovers were home.
The birds arrived as “a stand, wing, or congregation”, depending on your vocabulary.
I am going with congration as the plovers congregated beautifully.
Of course they quickly spied me and my huge camera.
And were off!
I am not very good at hiding.
But I love watching the plovers.
The birds took off, as one, into the sky.
They flew about for a short while waiting for me to go.
I know this because the minute I moved away, they all came back and settled where they had been. I am nothing to them. Just someone with a camera who must be avoided.
All I wanted was to watch these beautiful birds as a “stand” of plovers or as a “wing” of plovers. Here in Shetland, they are called “Plivvers” or “Pluvialis apricaria“ if you want to be posh in Latin.
Anyway, the plovers should be relieved that I am not Monster who is bringing wildlife home on a very regular basis. About two items a day. This is not encouraged but cannot be stopped.
The plovers don’t stay long. They will soon be off south to warmer climes, I think.
Great plover capture! Have you ever used a portable bird hide/blind? On second thought, this might be a dumb idea: even though Monster has no natural camouflage, he seems to be “successful.” Who knows what havoc he could wreak if he took to using your bird hide?
I can’t tell from the photo—is Monster wearing a collar with a bell? Not a criticism, just curious.
Absolutely not. I hate cats wearing collars.
Here in Sydney we don’t see plovers en masse like that. They are usually pairs with or without chicks. However, we always recall the time we were walking around an oval in a country town in NSW and were “divebombed” by angry plovers. It was scary!