Last Saturday I was setting up at one of my vis mig watchpoints when two waders flew W, low over my head. My instant first thought was Dotterel, based on jizz (smallish plover) and the purring element to the call. I only managed to get my camera on them as they were heading away, but luckily I'd got my sound recorder already running.
Looking at the photos and listening to the recording, I'm still thinking Dotterel, but wonder if I'm missing something. The purr call sounds good, but what's the two or three syllable whistle? I'm pretty sure it came from the same birds. Re the photos, don't set too much store by the depth and extent of red. The rising sun was making eg Mipits and a nearby rock face look reddish, and I don't think the apparent redness had any influence on my initial ID.
The photos are cropped but otherwise as they came out of the camera. As far as I remember, the first three here are of one of the birds and the last is of the other one.
I'd welcome any comments.
Cheers,
David
Looking at the photos and listening to the recording, I'm still thinking Dotterel, but wonder if I'm missing something. The purr call sounds good, but what's the two or three syllable whistle? I'm pretty sure it came from the same birds. Re the photos, don't set too much store by the depth and extent of red. The rising sun was making eg Mipits and a nearby rock face look reddish, and I don't think the apparent redness had any influence on my initial ID.
The photos are cropped but otherwise as they came out of the camera. As far as I remember, the first three here are of one of the birds and the last is of the other one.
I'd welcome any comments.
Cheers,
David
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