Plucky plovers are flying high
Wildlife success stories that have occurred without human intervention are few and far between in these times of shrinking countryside.
Soaring numbers of red kites and the return of white-tailed eagles owe their dramatic good fortune to carefully planned reintroduction projects. Other species are enjoying boom times because disappearing habitats have been restored by conservationists.
However, as nature reserves become increasingly essential as sanctuaries for all manner of flora and fauna, one somewhat nondescript bird is benefiting from the never-ending spread of suburban development.
It is little more than 80 years since the first little ringed plovers nested on British soil. The scene was Tring Reservoirs in Hertfordshire, where the pebbly shoreline was perfect for the birds to lay their eggs, which look like large stones.
In truth, LRPs – to use the birdwatcher’s abbreviated nickname – can also be easily overlooked themselves, with muddy brown plumage and disruptive patterning making them difficult to detect around wetland margins.
Desert wadis, dune slacks and even the sparsely vegetated shingle banks of mountain streams are some of the preferred haunts of the plover across its vast nesting range, which stretches from southern and central Europe into India and as far east as Japan.
Yet birds arriving in the UK from tropical African wintering grounds are finding the way building work is dominating the landscape much to their liking.
Freshly scoured ground primed for housing makes a perfect habitat for LRPs to lay eggs and raise camouflaged young. Similarly, gravel workings gouged to provide the foundations for new roads and groundworks are also exploited.
A fast-expanding housing estate in a neighbouring village is currently hosting at least two pairs of LRPs, who spend most of the daylight hours performing noisy courtship displays with loud, piping calls.
According to the latest figures, the breeding numbers of LRPs continue to increase annually, with up to 588 pairs nesting across the UK each summer.
Their nesting range is vast, from Europe to Japan