Tipperary Branch

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Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) breeding in County

Tipperary in 2008 

Kevin P. Collins
Ballygambon, Lisronagh, Clonmel, County Tipperary

At 18.00 hours on 29 April 2008, I saw two Little Ringed Plovers (Charadrius dubius) at the edge of a pond in a gravel pit in County Tipperary. During the following hour I saw mating occur and then one bird settled on to a spot on the gravel above the pond. I took some photographs using a digital camera and a telescope with a x32 eye-piece. I did not enter the gravel pit for safety reasons. An adult was seen sitting at the nest site throughout May and on 3 June 2008 an adult was seen with three small chicks.

The first record of Little Ringed Plover in Ireland was that of a party of four seen on the North Bull strand, Dublin, on 17 September 1953 (Hutchinson 1989). Since then, this summer migrant has been recorded almost annually, with 54 records to the end of 2004 (Irish Rare Bird Committee 2004).  Colonisation has long been anticipated and a single bird was present in suitable habitat in County Tipperary during April and May 1991 (Gibbons et al. 1993). Hillis (2007) reported that a pair bred in County Cork in 2006 but no further details were available, referring to a report in Brown (2007). While the need for confidentiality is understandable, this type of record is unsatisfactory and frustrating for birdwatchers in Ireland. For this reason, I have submitted the first properly documented record of successful breeding of the Little Ringed Plover in Ireland. 

References

Brown, A. 2007. One hundred years of notable avian events in British Birds. British Birds 100: 193-264.

Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993. The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-1991. T&AD Poyser, London.

Hillis, J.P. 2007. Rare Breeding Birds in Ireland, 2005 and 2006. Irish Birds 8: 249-262.

Hutchinson, C.D. 1989. Birds in Ireland. T&AD Poyser, Calton.

Irish Rare Birds Committee. 2006. Irish Rare Bird Report 2004. Irish Birds 8: 107-122. 

Adult Little Ringed Plover with chick, County Tipperary (Kevin Collins).