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Since its recent arrival in New Zealand the Black-fronted Dotterel (Charadrius melanops) has begun winter flocking, and a newly observed feeding technique has become common. This new feeding behaviour is used mainly on hard substrate. The bird taps the substrate before pecking at prey, and on hard substrate the capture rate is higher than by simple pecking. By imitating the tapping on soft, intermediate and hard surfaces, I found that vibrations from the tapping on hard substrate alone caused flies to jump, making them more visible. In winter, birds were heard calling an hour before sunrise as they flew from sleeping sites scattered along the Manawatu River to the sludge ponds at the freezing works. The dotterels returned to the river after several hours of feeding but again visited the sludge ponds from mid-afternoon to almost an hour after sunset. At both the river and the sludge ponds most prey consisted of two species of fly.  Daily time budgets showed that birds were feeding for 38% of the day while incubating, 69% while tending chicks and 86% during a winter’s day. It was estimated that during a winter’s day, one apparently normal bird caught 28,737 insects. To do this it pecked at 31,579 insects and caught one insect every 1.5 seconds.