Little Ringed Plovers

Little Ringed Plovers are a fairly recent addition to the list of British breeding birds - the first pair bred at Tring, Hertfordshire in 1938. The population has steadily increased and there are now 800-1,000 pairs in the country. They favour gravel pits and a number of pairs breed in our area each year.

Regular checks of breeding sites are made throughout the season and where possible nests located and progress and success tracked. Where possible we also ring the young - although their camouflage is excellent and it is often impossible to find the chicks. Obviously search time has to be restricted to limit disturbance.

Year	Sites	Counties	Pairs	Chicks
Year	Sites	Counties	Pairs	Possibly fledged	Ringed
2007	4	2	20-23	12-14	8
2008	3	1	5	3-6	4
2009	5	2	13	6+	8

The number of pairs attempting to breed each year at individual sites appears to be highly variable, and like many waders their success is very variable. In 2009 local photographer Jerry O’Brien photographed an adult bird at one of the sites we monitor, it was ringed and his photos were good enough to read the ring number.
BT02510	5	16/04/2008	Nanjizal, Lands End: 50°3'N 5°42'W (SW3523) (Cornwall)
	VV	15/04/2009	c 51°25'N 1°0'W (West Berkshire)	362km ENE 364 days
Little Ringed Plovers don’t breed in Cornwall and this bird was ringed as a first year bird on it’s first return migration at Land’s End. It was only the 19th British recovery more than 100 km from where it was ringed. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to have stayed around and almost certainly wasn’t one of the birds that bred at our site in 2009.


Photos J O’Brien


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