Little Ringed Plover

Above: Little Ringed Plover.
Below: Ringed Plover.

Little ringed plovers are summer visitors to the UK but never in huge numbers. They seldom make it as far north as Scotland and in the west seldom as far as Cumbria. They do occur in Cheshire and Lancashire but are less frequent in North Wales. Arrival is usually in April and the last to leave are gone by mid October.

They are pretty much exclusively freshwater waders, being found inland around the shores of lakes, reservoirs and especially gravel pits. The slightly larger ringed plover tends to be much more of a coastal bird but will also visit inland bodies of freshwater, especially in summer so careful identification is needed.

The little ringed plover has a sandy brown back, wings and crown. The belly, lower breast and vent are white. It has a black band that goes around the back, just below the neck and widens as it comes round to the upper breast. Immediately above this black band is a white band, like a collar but which extends upwards at the front to the beak. The face has a broad black band from left cheek to right cheek through the eye and up and over the beak. There is a white patch just above the beak, below this black band and also a thin white strip above the black band right across the crown. The beak is black or at least dark in colour and the legs can vary from a pale pinkish colour to a pale yellowish colour. There is a very distinct yellow ring around the eye. 

So how can we distinguish it from the ringed plover (shown below left for comparison). Well first thing you'll notice is the ringed plovers beak is bright orange with a black tip. This is easily one off the best identifying marks, as is the fact that the ringed plover lacks the prominent yellow eye-ring. Also on the ringed plover the white above the black stripe through the eye and across the crown does not extend all of the way across the crown, with the black, as it does in the little ringed plover. Finally, the ringed plovers legs are orange and darker than those of it's slightly smaller relative. 

Little ringed plovers are easy to find in the north west and can be easy to photograph if you are lucky. They turn up at Marshside, Martin Mere, Neumann's Flash, Pennington Flash and a variety of other lakes, reservoirs and gravel pits in and around the north west. The trouble is getting close enough to these fairly small waders to get a decent picture. I can't honestly recommend, at present, anywhere where you are guaranteed to get close enough for a really good shot but so far I have found Pennington Flash and Neumann's Flash to be places that offer the best chances. If I come across anywhere better I'll be sure to update this page to let you know.