As previously mentioned in yesterday's Irish trip summary, a point-blank juvenile Eurasian Dotterel proved the highlight of five days' birding around County Mayo. When Dave Suddaby initially texted with the news, he'd mentioned it was with a flock of European Golden Plovers and any hope of obtaining images seemed virtually non-existent. How pleasant it was, then, to turn up and find the bird on its own in a field of cows, performing to within metres ... The bird was initially a little wary of us and at one point flew off, calling regularly, but soon returned and got used to its new cohabitants, unconcernedly feeding to within a few metres of us for the hour or so we spent with it.
The bird itself was absolutely pristine, with bright buff and peach tones to its upperparts and breast. I was intrigued by the brownish, diffuse 'barring' on the belly, something I'd not noticed before. All in all, it was a fantastic experience, hampered only by the very dull and breezy conditions, which made photography a little less straightforward than it perhaps should have been.
2 Comments
Absolutely superbly photographed. Great description too. Honoured to know Dave and his observation and identification skills are outstanding.
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Josh Jones
22/9/2018 11:19:19 am
Many thanks Lucy for your kind comments. Dave is a real legend - a top birder and a great guy to boot. Always a pleasure to bump into him out west!
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