Spur Wing Plover Nest

This morning I drove out to visit the O’Connors at Brooksdale in the Omaka Valley.
Spring is in full swing out there with lambs, swans nesting, spring bulbs and blossom galore.
After lunch walked we into one of the paddocks in order for Dawn to show me something very special. A pair of Spur Wing Plovers had taken up residence in there and was nesting. Dawn had recently emailed me images of their nesting site. There were four lovely greenish speckled eggs in the “nest”. This nest consisted of not much more than a tiny clearing amongst the lush green vegetation in the paddock.
The nest was very difficult to locate. Once we did so we were delighted to find two lovely speckled eggs there and alongside was a fuzzy little plover chick. Oh dear, where was the other egg or chick? Had a hawk got it? Mother plover was some distance away watching anxiously.
Then, lo and behold, just a few feet away was a tiny fuzzy little body. Luckily Dawn did not step on it. It was very much alive... Dawn picked it up and placed it next to its fuzzy sibling. It nestled down and looked quite settled.
Heaven only knows how it moved those few feet away from its sibling. We suspect they were not long hatched as they were still damp along their tiny spines.
We very quietly vacated the paddock. Mother plover was watching and we saw that she was returning to the nest area. Father plover was trying to chase away two Paradise ducks which were trying to set up home further over in the paddock.
Farmer Michael will very discretely check out the nest later this evening in order to see if mother plover has settled down again with her little family.
It was a real privilege to see this Spur Wing Plover nest and family today. They are so well camouflaged that photography created a challenge but we have done our best…..