Above the high-tide mark of spring tides on south beach there's an area of sand only reached by storm waves. It's pockmarked by the prints of humans, dogs and waders, a busy area which seems a poor place to choose to build a nest.
However, this is the place a ringed plover pair has chosen to bring up a family. We spotted one of he parents looking decidedly shifty, a sure sign that there was a nest to be found and....
....Mrs MW was quick to spot it. Nest-building isn't the plover's strong point and the heavily footprinted sand around the scrape is a bit of a give-away, which in some ways is just as well as one has to be very careful not to tread on the precious eggs.
This one contained just one of their beautiful eggs. Ringed plovers lay around four, so it's early days for this pair.
A little further along the beach, washed up at the high-tide line, lay a sad sight. While it's a great shame that this is how we see our first gannet on this coast, at least it indicates that they are out there, somewhere.
Feeding on the rising tide was a small flock of knots. Telling sanderling and knot apart is a nightmare but these have greenish legs while the sanderling has black.
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