Eurasian Dotterel, female on Pendle Hill
MARTIN NAYLOR SURPRISED EVERYONE BY FINDING A DOTTEREL ON 29 JUNE! One wonders where this faded female came from and where it is going to? Female dotterels do not stay around to raise the family that is brooded by the male and they are known to wander after the event. On one hand the return passage of Scandinavian-breeding shorebirds is well underway now so it may have come a long way but on the other dotterel breeds in Cumbria and the North Pennines... It took around three hours for us to gain its confidence but eventually this bird would allow Alan and me to walk right up to it, easily the most approachable one I have seen on Pendle and a wonderful experience on a glorious sunny summer's day overlooking the Colne Valley on one side and the Ribble Valley on the other.
Pendleside Farm from Pendle Hill