On 19 August Todd Easterla found a bird fitting the description of an ABA Code-2 Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) at the Davis Wetlands, near Davis, California. The bird was photographed and seen again on 20 August. It was being seen in the south-central part of the waste-water lagoon where water levels have been reported to be attracting a few thousand shorebirds. Although now listed as a Code-2 species, In 1996 in the ABA Checklist, Fifth Edition, DeBenedictis et al., Common Ringed Plover was an ABA Code-4 species.
The Davis Wetlands are open daily, 7:00 A.M to 1:00 P.M. only, with access via the east end of Rd 28H (ne of Davis) at the end of the long driveway to the Davis Wastewater Treatment Plant. Go past the treatment plant entrance to the yellow gate. The gate will often be latched, but not locked. For more information and a map of the wetlands, see:
http://cityofdavis.org/pw/water/wetlands.cfm
Common Ringed Plover is primarily a Eurasian species, but is fairly common in its restricted North American range―a breeding range including the northeastern coast of Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island in the ABA Area. The nominate subspecies, C. h. hiaticula, breeds from northeastern Canada to Western Europe. Another subspecies, C. h. tudrae, breeds from northern Scandinavia to Siberia and occasionally in Alaska (The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien, et al.). In its North American range, Common Ringed Plover breeds above treeline on mostly bare ground near shorelines. In migration and in winter it favors sand or gravel beaches, mudflats, or muddy fields and pasture lands. An interesting foraging behavior involves “foot-trembling”, a technique, especially in muddy situations, whereby foot motions cause prey items to move making them easier to spot (The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien et al.).
Comments