We're becoming very involved with the waders' nests along Golspie beach. We were along the beach two days ago checking on them from a safe distance, and again today, and we now know that along the first section of 'wader beach' there are two nests, the ringed plover nest we found some time ago with four eggs in it, which is now 'Plover 2', and this one, which we suspected was there....
....because the second of the pair kept running down the beach as we approached, which is 'Plover 1'.
However, we have also suspected that there is a third plovers' nest, 'Plover 3', just before we reach the oystercatchers', and this was confirmed today by the presence of a very agitated pair. We haven't yet seen either of the parents actually on the nest.
We were very relieved today to find the oystercatchers, with their four eggs, are doing well. One of them was on the nest while the other, above, placed him/herself between our approach and the nest, though the one on the nest....
....had to move because a dog-walker approached from the opposite direction. She had a lovely 5-month old springer spaniel with her so we warned her about the nests, but she was much more concerned about an attack on her dog by a greyhound, which had happened a few minutes before. In this picture the oystercatchers' nest is at the top on the beach at extreme right, just in front of the dark grass.
Just past the oystercatchers we spotted what we thought might be a new nest with a ringed plover sitting on it but when he/she took off, accompanied by two other plovers, we went up to find it and couldn't. Perhaps no eggs have yet been laid and it's a lady in the process of choosing between two males accompanying her. Anyway, the proposed site of the nest is in the seaweed just to the left of the large rock in the centre of the picture. We'll check again when we next pass.
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