Shochads

Where are they??

Modern farming methods, land drainage and so-called land improvement schemes have removed their best breeding and feeding areas, add a couple of severe Winters and their numbers are decimated to the lowest levels ever. Curlew, Snipe, Golden Plover etc, have all been effected in one way or another with the same man made problems.

nirofo.

We've been lucky enough to hear the curlew, but, must admit that there does seem to be a shortage of the beautiful "air dancing" by the shochad !!

You're right nirofo, it's such ashame that man, by trying to improve "their" land, is having such a dreadful effect on our wildlife! :(:(

A Lapwing as far as I can make out. A Pee-Wit where I come from.

Yes, davem,

A shochad, peewit or lap-wing all the same beastie (or should that be "birdie") up here !! LOL :lol:

Or the Green Plover to give it it's Sunday name!;)

I know where 20 of them went. I was walking by the river last week and I met an elderly gentleman who was rubbing his belly and saying yum yum as I approached him. What are you so chirpy about I asked. I choost hed 20 shochad iggs before I left the hoose he volunteered. I told him he better no tell too many people cos its no the done thing anymore. When they stop eating coos they can tell me till stop eating shochads iggs he replied. Fair play says I and asked him if he had a tip for the Scottish Grand national.

Saw my first shochad of the year this morning from my kitchen window :-)

A few of them in the park behind my house: been watching them for days now; dancing, kamikaze ground dives, chasing the infiltrating crows etc....
They put on a great show!

Have seen quite a few but mostly to the east of the county from Mey to Groats have been the best places.
Many years ago my OH came home saying he had seen "Birds with horns on," after some head scratching I finally realised what he was referring to!

Plenty displaying out by Loch Calder today, was a joy to watch and to hear their calls of pe whit.......are they not called peesies up here?

Thought ly sthey were called peesies or peswits or peesweez phonetcically speaking...but nothing seams to save em!!

Shochad is deinitely the uniquely Caithness dialect name for the Lapwing. Sadlt, they have decreased a lot over the last 30 years.