A little reminder on a beach on the south coast will hopefully save two little creatures from big feet or excited little paws.
A pair of white-fronted plovers did what is natural to them and laid their tiny eggs in a slight indentation in the sand last week.
Trouble is, the small shorebirds chose a busy piece of shore called Shirley’s Point between Ramsgate and Southbroom, on the popular Ramsgate Ramble trail.
But fortunately veteran south coast conservationist Dave Halle was walking the trail on Friday and came to their rescue.
Halle, who chairs the Ramsgate Conservancy, noticed the camouflaged eggs after seeing the birds putting on their “injured bird” display for distraction, and he knew exactly what this meant.
“Plovers particularly do this when you approach their nest or chicks. They pretend to be injured by hopping and then lying down and flapping their wings; when you approach them they leap up and do the same all over again. In this manner they lead you away from the nest — they’ll lead you quite far away before flying off completely. It’s clever — people and dogs fall for it all the time. Legavaans too will go for what they think is an injured bird over the eggs,” Halle explained.
“I was aware there were eggs nearby the minute I saw them play dead. I immediately stood still so I didn’t stomp on them and looked carefully ... and saw them, which is no mean feat – they really are camouflaged.
“They chose a busy place in the middle of the beach — all about were hundreds footsteps and a fresh bike tyre track which missed the eggs by inches.”
That evening Halle couldn’t sleep thinking about how vulnerable the eggs were.
“I was worried about them and was thinking if it was wise to interfere with nature by protecting the eggs. But then I thought it could create awareness of the birds and that we share these spaces with animals.”
He said the reason beach buggies had been prevented from riding on beaches was because of birds such as the plover and especially the African black oystercatcher, which is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
“The main reason they stopped beach buggies was because the buggies had decimated oystercatcher populations, now we see them regularly.
“The plover is not threatened — they should be — I don’t know how the hell they exist. But they are also in the middle of the beach, where they can always see what’s coming. There’s always another side of the story.”
After hardly any sleep, the next morning he and members of the Southbroom Conservancy cordoned off the area and put up a sign in the hope it would raise awareness, and stop people and their dogs from disturbing or squashing the eggs.
“On Saturday I decided we had to do something. I called the Southgate Conservancy chair Anne Skelton and together we [cordoned off the area].
“I’m hoping they will survive.
“We wanted to create awareness for nature. People are losing track of their surroundings in the modern world. One little event such as this can start an interest in nature and interest in conservancies. Little things can have a big impact on people and animals.”
According to the Southbroom Conservancy white-fronted plovers make their nest by scraping a slight indentation into the beach sand and sometimes line it with small pieces of shell above the high tide mark, even up into the dunes. They lay between one and three eggs which are incubated for about 30 days by both parents.
Halle said his wish was for people to spend more time in nature than in shopping malls.
“Take an interest in birds — they’re fascinating to study and all have their own unique habits. Be aware of the birds, the bees and the flowers and take time to smell the roses.”
So — with the will of nature, and a little help from conservationists, hopefully in a couple of weeks beachgoers will be rewarded with two fluffy plover chicks.
