12/11/2011

Rondebult this morning was hot,arrived at 5.30 am and it was already 26 degrees.Middle of a heatwave here and expect temps to rise into the mid 30's today. Got a whole sequence of three banded plovers doing the bone dance.
The male arrived and started doing his dance, he bobbed up and down while the female kept moving away. she eventually succumbed and went down on bended knee accepting his advances.

Foreplay consisted of the male doing a dance on the back of the female. He actually drummed his legs and claws on her back and in this way stimulating her. It did make a bit of a noise i was about 4 metres away from them and i could hear the drumming noise.

after about three minutes of this dance they settled down.

she then lifted her tail for him.

not more than fifteen seconds and it was over

he flew of and left her to sun herself in the afterglow of a good copulation.