Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Waders of the Lost Cause (pun)

The inclement weaather persists seeminly sending Bird and Mammal alike
to ground, and not to be outdone Moths also with a single exception.
The status of
 GOLD SWIFT
here is not known although rarely captured
 this being jst the second since 2014.
The high winds didn't help the photograph.
Harking back to the reference of recieving Wildlife Reports from other parts of the county,
via various Web-sites, the news of Little Ringed Plover successfully breeding at
 Lytchett Fields on the cusp of Poole Harbour
was recieved as something of a
Double Edged Sword.
The thrill of such a thing, particularly on ones own patch, is well known to me but, unlike those at Lytchett which will be properly protecteded ours, as Led Zeppelin would put it were simply
"Trampled Under Foot"!
 LITTLE RINGED PLOVER
newly arrived from their Winter Quarters maybe as far away as Africa
 start surveying the large gravelled area inside the
 Solar Panel Compound
 Prospective Nest Site
where what appears to be 
'random stone throwing' takeing place
 but not a bit of it as each pebble or tiny flint
 ends up forming the almost perfect circle of a nest on the ground.
Incubation
Then There Were Three
Genesis
the most adult birds seen at any one time was c6.
 Just Out of the Egg
 Juveniles growing by the minute 10 days old.
 2 weeks
 and then
Still and Clip
of juvenile 25 Days Old.
Having availed the parent company of their presence they even agreed to a 'site meeting' allowing me to point out the exact location of the nests with a request for ALL PARTIES to keep clear of that area!
This most certainly fell on deaf ears and cannot imagine these 2 companies had ever heard of a
Risk Assesment
as the following year what had then become a small colony fell to the grass cutters, who had not been briefed, with not a single bird having been seen here since!!!!
A prima facia case was produced by then PC Clair Dinsdale (now Sergent Dinsdale) of the 
Dorset Constabulary Wildlife Division
(as contrary to the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act)
but not followed through due to lack of manpower.
An attempt was made to follow up personally, but you try and find a 'Brief' who is willing to take on a Wildlife case - there seemed to be "no such animal"!
Money Wins Again!