Every spring pairs of chorlitejos (plovers) build nests on a Motril beach, next to the sports area on Playa de Poniente; the first of the summer tourists.

Naturally the Town Hall cordons off the area so that nobody destroys the nests although one was destroyed last May. Whether the culprits were humans, we don’t know because perhaps it was an animal, such as a dog, cat or fox, even.

Accordingly, the Town Hall, using its social-media outlets, has asked beachgoers and people out walking with dogs to stay away from the cordoned off area until they hatch and the young abandon the nests.

In fact, the Town Hall is so reticent about disturbing the birds that last year they put necessary work on Playa de Poniente on hold until July

The Chorlitejo Patinegro (Charadrius alexandrinus or Kentish Plover) are ground-nesting birds that use a number of materials to build their nests, mainly consisting of shells, pebbles, grass and leaves in a small scrape in the ground. They are predominantly insectivores.

Hopefully, the chicks had flown before San Juan swamps beaches with human activity…

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)