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Dotterels

To: "birding-aus" <>
Subject: Dotterels
From: "Wim Vader" <>
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:45:28 +0200

                                FINDING THE NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK


Today is apparently the last day of the nice weather again, and there is
even a chance of 'summer weather' this afternoon: when I looked at the
thermometer at 3 pm, it showed 19*C. So I decided this morning to go for a
walk on our local hill, Fløya (=The Vane. there is a large windvane on top
of that c 550m high hill), which is on the mainland opposite of the town.
This is a very popular weekend outing place for locals and tourists alike,
not least because there is a cable car until c 400m a.s.l. (where there is a
wonderful view over the town and its surroundings). Most of the tourists
stay around that area and photograph the views, but the locals in many cases
walk up to the top of Fløya or even further into the hills here, in many
cases with surprisingly small children in tow. On a day like today there
will be hundreds of people walking in the area; fortunately it is large, and
there are any numbers of paths, while many people also shun the paths; that
way the large numbers of people do not really constitute a large problem,
but it means, of course that the shyer birds, such as the Ptarmigan,
withdraw to areas with less people.

Fløya is a chalk-rich hill, and very famous in botanical circles for its
rich vegetation. This is also apparent for us laymen; the hills are full of
flowers, and some Irish guests of mine exclaimed a few years ago: 'It is as
if you walk in an Attenborough TV-show!' I could go on for a long time about
the plant life here---it is in fact the main reason for my walks there---but
this is a bird list, so I won't; if anybody is specially interested, contact
me, and you'll hear probably more than you wished for. I must mention
already here, though, that there were thousands of my favourite yellow
violets Viola biflora, and also large areas covered by another favourite of
mine: the exquisite miniature bells of the Mossy Mountain-heather, Cassiope
hypnoides.

The insects were not as yet greatly problematic, although the flies were
irritaing, and the horseflies annoying as soon as one sat down. The most
common insects were tipulids blundering among the low vegetation, while
hunting lycosid spiders also were numerous. A few small butterflies.

Birds, on the other hand, there are always few here. As everywhere, there
are some Hooded Crows and Common Gulls, and scolding Meadow Pipits and
Northern Wheatears, and I heard Ravens croak. But otherwise for a long time
all I came across were a few alarming Golden Plovers, a common nesting bird
here, as is the Ringed Plover, which today I did not see at all. There are
also a few pairs of Snow Buntings up here usually, but they keep to the
worst screes, which I nowadays, walking alone and at my age, tend to avoid;
so I did not see or hear them.

The most Interesting nesting bird of these hills, and especially of the
almost bare areas near the tops, is the Dotterel, of which there are a few
pairs, They are famous for their untraditional nesting habits, where the
male takes over the complete care of nest and young. Some ten years ago,
when there was a feminist conference here in Tromsø, many of the ladies
wanted to go and find this modern bird!  But that is much easier said than
done: it is a quite large area, where there are only a few birds, and in
addition Dotterels are so tame, that one needs to almost walk on top of
them, before they flush (maybe!). So it is the proverbial needle in the
haystack, and when i walked through the area, trying to zigzag a little and
to avoid the most trodden paths, I was formulating in my head  a sentence
that on a Sunday like this and so late in the season, it was more like
searching for one needle in five haystacks! And just then I saw a slight
movement right in front of my feet (< 2m), and there a nice male Dotterel
was looking up at me. He did not fledge then either, and gave me all
oppportunity to admire his elegant colour combinations (even though a bit
duller than in the females), while he went on picking up tipulids and
spiders, as if I were not there! Amazing!!

                                                  Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
                                                  9037 Tromsø, Norway
                                                  
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