The holidays for many are times to catch up with family and friends. Sometimes, it is taking time to spend with those we see the most that becomes special. Other times, it is visiting with guests from afar. Rarely, however, is it about meeting someone entirely new that changes the course of our day.
However, that would be a good description of how my 2023 started -- spending some special time with those we see the most often - like the Common Loon feeding on a crab shown above. The cooperative bird shared an amazing January 1 sunset with me as it dove, repeatedly returning with prey items to be devoured for a special holiday dinner. However, when the ball dropped on New Year's Eve, I really had not anticipated spending time with guests from afar, or with a visitor whom I had never met!
And yet, I found myself spending a few hours with a common Maine bird that isn't usually here to visit in January - a Killdeer, along with a bird that I had never before seen - a Northern Lapwing. So if you couldn't immediately recognize the bird in the distant photo above - don't feel bad - this was considered a "lifer" for many people lucky enough to see it after it was identified on a Christmas Bird Count! Kudos to the observant birder who found this gorgeous animal foraging distantly in a field!
The Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) - also known as a peewit, pewit, or green plover - is primarily a bird of the European countries. The range includes Europe, Turkey and NW Iran through W Russia and Kazakhstan to S & E Siberia, Mongolia and N China. It winters from W Europe, E Atlantic islands and N Africa through Mediterranean, Middle East and Iran across N India to SE China, Korea and S Japan (from Birds of the World). So this striking bird was quite a long ways from home! It's status is considered "near threatened".
What I found absolutely amazing about this bird was that is actually considered a wader - a shorebird - related to the "peeps" we lump together as sandpipers and plovers. It's natural habitat is as expected, once you know that it is a shorebird - it breeds in variety of wide open habitats with short vegetation or bare ground, including various wetlands , heaths, moors, agricultural fields, meadows and hayfields, often with other wading birds such as Black-tailed Godwits (Limosa limosa), Common Snipes (Gallinago gallinago), Dunlins (Calidris alpina), Ruffs (C. pugnax) and Common Redshanks (Tringa totanus) (From Birds of the World).
This unusual visitor to Maine was a very active forager, constantly working over the field it was in and being tailed quite closely by the also unexpected killdeer. The lapwing is much larger than it's companion (see both in the first photo), and could be seen taking much larger prey as well. It had an endearing tail bob present through most of it's foraging stint. Unfortunately, as can be seen from my photos, it stayed quite distant to me, and although I could clearly see the crest with my naked eye, only occasionally was I able to catch the greenish metallic shine which is a field characteristic of the species. It made several short flights, and the long, very rounded wings were not at ALL what I expected for a shorebird, who normally sports short, pointed wings! This individual almost reminded me of a pileated woodpecker flying across the field - which was actually amusing because an (also uncommon!) Flicker was calling repeatedly behind me, bringing woodpeckers doubly to the top of mind! Both the killdeer and the lapwing reacted fairly strongly to a close pass by a resident red-tailed hawk, which was interesting to watch but had the small crowd collectively holding their breath!
Not only did the bird "run and grab" like a plover and tail bob frequently, it also would stop, and stomp it's feet. A review in Birds of the World reveals this as a hunting strategy called "foot-trembling". It locates prey both visually and aurally - and another surprise - will hunt nocturnally, primarily so on moonlit nights! This may be a strategy to avoid kleptoparasitism (=stealing!) by Black-headed Gulls (Laurs ridibundus), which is apparently common. It primarily feeds on invertebrate prey such as earthworms and insects, which our uncommonly warm spell brought out in force!
Although I am not usually someone that "chases" rare birds, I am glad that I spent a few hours with this individual. It was interesting to watch the bird exhibit it's natural behaviours while appearing completely relaxed. The small group of birders present were extremely respectful about allowing the bird space. The homeowners came out to see what the excitement was all about and spent time telling us about their property, the surrounding terrain, and enjoying the view of the bird from the many scopes that were present. They were fascinated to learn of the unusual and interesting natural history event unfolding right in their front yards - and the education was extended to many drivers who stopped and became interested in a field they probably have driven past countless times without taking notice. This bird, who had travelled so far, was an ambassador to many - and stimulated quite a few people to just slow down and look. And learn. And enjoy. A good lesson to start out 2023.
Just a small quiz question, and a flashback to summer..........what COLOR eyes does this species have in breeding plumage? If you want to check your answer - pop over to my Instagram page: https://instagram.com/smitchellnaturephotography
