Waders' Nesting

Most of the waders which have remained along our shores though the winter gathered in small flocks which, as spring comes towards us, have begun to break up into pairs - though who goes with whom is a matter of hot, and in the case of the oystercatchers, very noisy debate.

While some waders change their plumage with the seasons, birds like the oystercatchers don't, though there is a noticeable brightening of the colours in beak and legs, and a fresh sharpness about the black and white of their feathers.

Another of the waders I watched along the beach to the north of Golspie this morning were pairs of ringed plovers.  Like the oystercatchers, they've been here all winter but not in as large numbers. 

Oystercatchers and ringed plovers share a determination to breed along the back of the beaches both to north and south of the village and....

....I don't look forward to watching these nesting efforts. The nests are usually in the pebbles and coarse vegetation just above the high-tide mark, and over the past three summers we've seen nest after nest abandoned, despite huge efforts by the parents, because of disturbance by humans and, in particular, their dogs, and because there is a very active collection of crows which scavenge the tideline.

The other common waders along the beaches, the curlews and redshanks, nest inland, the former in rough grasslands, moorlands or bogs and the latter in saltmarshes, flood meadows and lake margins. They may not suffer as much from disturbance by walkers and dogs but agricultural improvement of upland farmland and moorland, and widespread drainage, have caused some catastrophic population declines.