Ringed Plover - 2003-07

Within Pembrokeshire, the status of Ringed Plovers and their distribution has remained pretty well unchanged over the last c. 20 years. The table suggests a decline in the number of tetrads in which Ringed Plovers were found, but during the 1984-88 period two tetrads included birds that were most likely to have been migrants as there was no confirmed or probable breeding reported.

A single pair bred in each of the five years 2003-07 on the Castlemartin Range. The nest site is on the cliff-top above Wind Bay near Linney Head. In 2007 a second pair held territory for a short time in May and early June above Berryslade, a little way west of Wind Bay, but were not proven to have nested. Several other Ringed Plovers stayed into early June on nearby Frainslake Beach but no breeding occurred here, or in dune hollows in Brownslade Burrows where they have bred in the last decade, but outside the atlas period. The Castlemartin site was not known to be occupied in 1984, but has been in regular occupancy since around 1990.

The main nesting habitat at Castlemartin is open, exposed stony limestone terrain directly above c. 30 metre high sea cliffs, contiguous with short herb-rich and invertebrate-rich maritime grassland turf where the birds often feed. Here a small area of limestone clitter provides suitable bare ground for a nest scrape, sufficient to hide cryptically marked eggs. There are numerous boulders and crevices for chicks to hide from predators and to shelter under. Sometimes two clutches are laid over a breeding season which extends from May to August.

Despite being within a busy army training range, and with a metalled road running along-side the breeding site, the plovers are afforded reasonable levels of protection. The breeding location is identified as a “sensitive area” on estate management maps, and there is usually very little military activity close to the nest site.

Because it is an active military range, relatively few people currently visit the area, unless they are briefed and are undertaking approved activities. Guided walking groups and climbers are briefed annually about seasonal bird nesting restrictions, which covers the plover nesting zone, to minimise disturbance to cliff-nesting birds. The plovers are also monitored each year to help ensure appropriate protection measures are adequate and up to date.

Tetrads in which registered (based on 490 tetrads) = 2 (0.4%)

Bob Haycock