May 9, 2008
Dotterel dash
After several consecutive early mornings in France, when John dropped me home from Stansted airport I fully intended to have a siesta and relaxing evening. Instead, about 430pm while checking email, I noticed that 2-3 Dotterel were being seen at the county boundary near Royston. It had been many years since I last saw breeding-plumaged Dotterel, and it sounded like too good an opportunity to pass up. I decided that if I jumped on my bike, I could still make the 455 train to Royston - fortunately I hadn't unpacked my birding bag from the French trip and so everything was ready to go! A short train journey, a bike ride, and a long walk along a footpath which crossed the main line train route to London and the dual carriageway A505, and I found myself having distant views of Dotterel heads occasionally popping up above the pea plants.
The birds seemed to be moving painfully slowly towards the south-east corner of the field, and the penny finally dropped that if I stood on the east edge of the field I could look between the parallel rows of peas and hope to see a little more of the birds.
As luck would have it, the male came out to feed along some tractor tracks, offering full-body views.
Along with singing Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers, Skylarks and both partridge species, it was a memorable end to the bank holiday weekend. Needless to say as soon as I got home I fell into a very deep sleep!
