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A lovely day out in the peak district with a Dotterel

       



It’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve done any real birding, a combination of no twitchable rarities I need for my UK list and getting lots of jobs done around the smallholding before my 3 week trip to South America. So this Friday just gone I decided to have a nice day out somewhere. I wanted to avoid an urban or concrete basin setting so decided to head to the peak district where a confiding juvenile Dotterel had been, as they say, “showing well”.

 

The first previous reports of the bird had been around mid-morning so I decided to set off early and hope the bird had not departed overnight. This was a little risky for a bird that had already been present for a few days but I needn’t have worried as the bird was reported as still present when I was on route.

 

The location was on some fairly exposed heath moorland some way out of Chesterfield accessed by a byway from the main road. After 15 minutes or so pleasant walk through the moorland I arrived at the Dotterels reported location at what appeared to be an almost manmade rocky scrape in the predominantly heather landscape. One of the small number of other birders present pointed the bird out to me hunkered down behind the scrape sheltering from the cold breeze. And here it stayed for the next 90 minutes occasionally indulging in a bit of preening but never remotely looking like it had any intention of moving. Then, with a big stretch, it got up and treated us to some outstanding views while never venturing more than a few meters from the rocky pool.

 

The Dotterel breeds in the Arctic tundra from Norway to eastern Siberia. Small numbers also breed on the Scottish mountains and the first ones I ever saw a good number of years back were  on a trip to the Cairngorms with Jeremy. They are strongly migratory wintering  from Morocco eastwards to Iran. Small numbers are seen in England during their autumn migration, usually on grassy hill tops.

 

They are attractive brown and black streaked birds with a broad white eye-stripe and an orange-red chest band when in breeding plumage. The bird is tame and unsuspecting and the term "dotterel" has, apparently, been applied contemptuously to mean an old fool!! The English name is said to date from the 15th century and was used as an insult for someone considered simple or a dotard.

 

The normal breeding roles are reversed in Dotterels. The female is the more brightly coloured bird and plays no part in brooding the eggs or raising the chicks. She has long since gone off to find another male and lay another clutch of eggs!

 

It was a good job the bird lived up to its tame and unsuspecting nature as the level of disturbance and general chitchat close to the bird was high, I’ve been in quieter pubs!








 

After pottering around for 30 minutes or so with the occasional sprint to grab an insect, it settled down again never remotely showing any concern at the close human presence. After another rest it had another potter before settling down again which was my cue to leave after spending a highly enjoyable and rewarding time in the Dotterels company. If not for the fact that it appeared to be a very plump and healthy bird, I would have worried about its lack of feeding activity but, hopefully, it will soon be on its way to its warm wintering grounds.


A breeding plumage female taken in the Outer Hebrides in the spring of 2019

Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!  

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