Grey Plover
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Although this high arctic breeder from western Siberia is often numerous on our coasts in the winter, it remains a scarce and irregular visitor, seen only occasionally in spring and autumn passage in the West Midlands area, to and from its main wintering grounds in west Africa. Upton Warren has had 30 records involving 35 birds, averaging just over one record a year since its first occurrence on the 28th April 1978. The second record occurred the following day but the third took a further seven years. Despite being recorded nearly 30 times, there is only one multiple record of Grey Plover, six birds that arrived near dusk on 7th October 1991 at the Flashes and had departed by first light the following morning, part of a distinct passage of overland birds at the time. The series of six records in 1988 related to mainly fly-over sightings, with the birds rarely settling on the reserve. Autumn 1995 through to autumn 1999 saw an incredible series of records with sightings in five consecutive years, with a total of ten birds recorded.
As with most wader species, Grey Plover shows a distinct spring and autumn passage. Spring movement occurs between April and early June, with peak occurrence in late May. Autumn passage is much more prolonged, lasting between late September and December, with a strong peak of records in October. The earliest record was a bird seen at the Flashes on the 3rd March 1991 whilst the latest was a fly-over record at the Flashes on the 31st December 1995. A number of records have involved adult birds in full breeding plumage, such as the ones seen at the Flashes on the 21st May 1996, between the 7th and 8th August 1997 and on the 18th May 1999. Juveniles have also been recorded – on the 21st September 1996 and again on the 24th September 2004, both also at the Flashes.
Grey Plover have been known to mirror the behaviour of Golden Plover and associate with the reserve’s Lapwing flock. After the series of records in the mid to late 1990s Grey Plover has become scarce again at Upton Warren, with just three sightings in the last eight years. The most recent records were of one bird on the Moors Pool on the 31st October 2002, a juvenile at the Flashes on the 24th September 2004, one bird at the Moors Pool on the 8th December 2006 and one with Lapwings on the 29th and 30th August 2008; Saturday's record was therefore the first for over five years. Overall Upton Warren is the second most regularly frequented site in Worcestershire after Upper / Lower Bittell Reservoir.