We walked across Dale Airfield last Friday, in search of Wheatears - we were a day too early, but rewarded by a flock of 87 Golden Plover and 2 Dunlin. They were feeding in the area to the west of the runways that, in previous years has been ploughed for crops. At least one third of the plover were in, or coming into, summer plumage - stunning birds.
We were rather disappointed that almost all the area inside the runways has been mown very short, cutting back all the emerging gorse, as well as the long grass in the wet areas. It seems a shame that such potentially attractive habitat should be damaged to improve the feeding for sheep.