I had spent the morning having a good look around a few sites at Studland, but I hadn't found anything of note and decided to head home for an early lunch. I had just finished eating, when Phil Saunders rang to say news had just broken on a Weymouth Whatsapp group of an American Golden Plover at Lodmoor. With only five previous records and none being twitchable since I've lived in Dorset, then I was phoning the news around locally, as I was heading out of the door. Local Purbeck Birder James Leaver had arrived a few minutes earlier than me & as I got there I could see his camera raised: it was clearly still here. He pointed out which part of the five hundred or so Golden Plover flock to look in & I was quickly watching it.
It was an aggressive individual and didn't like the Golden Plovers getting too close to it. The darker crown and whiter line over the eye, dark ear covert spot, greyer more washed out colouration, lack of clear spotting on the breast and smaller size all helped to pick it out from the immaculately marked Golden Plovers. There was an interesting Golden Plover photographed the next day at Lodmoor which was washed out & didn't have any obvious golden spots which hoodwinked a few observers: but the other plumage features still confirmed it was just a washed out Golden Plover.
In comparison, Golden Plovers have a nice white underwing.
Finally, a Pacific Golden Plover taken within a few days of the date of the Lodmoor photos, but nine years earlier in French Polynesia. I still find it hard to think that when I started Birding that American Golden Plover were lumped with Pacific Golden Plover and called Lesser Golden Plover.
