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| The Sociable Lapwing curtsey of my friend Ian Bollen, its the one at the front with more white on the under-wing |
On Thursday last week a mega rare Sociable Lapwing was found on the river Fal estuary in Cornwall. Social media rumour has it that this first winter bird, i.e. hatched last spring, had actually been present in Cornwall on the Camel estuary since last November but its presence had been supressed by the finder!
Normally, a bird such as this that I need for my UK list would have me jumping in my car immediately but on this occasion I was in the middle of a major DIY project at home and consequentially the house was in a state of chaos. Even though my ever suffering wife said I should go, I felt it unfair to abandon her in the chaos I created. I hence hatched a plan to drive down to Cornwall on Tuesday night this week, stay in a local Premier Inn and spend Wednesday birding in Cornwall.
Negative reports on the birds presence on Tuesday had me reassessing this plan. The weather in Cornwall was reportedly vile and, given how long the bird had apparently been present, I strongly suspected it would be re-found on Wednesday. I hence modified my plan to an early start on Wednesday when I would get up at silly o’ clock and drive down to Labrador bay in Devon to see its residential Ciril Buntings. If there were no further reports of the Lapwing I would still have a pleasant days birding. If the bird was reported again I would be halfway there.
I arrived at Labrador bay at 08:30 and was greeted by torrential rain. The forecast app on my phone, which tends to be much more reliable than the BBC forecast, predicted the rain would stop in 30 minutes so I decided to sit it out in my car before venturing out. After 30 minutes as the rain eased off and I prepared to get out a message came through on one of my birding WhatsApp groups that the Lapwing had been re-found. I messaged the finder who told me that the bird had just flown off with the common Lapwing flock it was associating with into a nearby field where it was hidden from view. My Ciril Bunting plan was immediately abandoned and I departed on the two hour drive to the Fal estuary.
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| Ciril Bunting from a previous visit |
The Fal estuary was viewable from a small single track road that wound round the top of the estuary and I parked my car in a small well used layby and walked the short distance to the recommended viewing spot. I quickly found the common Lapwing flock but they were very distant on the mud flats on the other side of the estuary. By now the early birders had departed after seeing the bird and I was on my own. Normally this would suit me very well but on this occasion with the large Lapwing flock so distance it would have been a case of the more eyes the better. Given a good view the defining features of my target bird would be obvious but given the distance and the poor light with many of the Lapwings facing away from me this was going to be hard work. A quick scan through the flock without picking up the vagrant Sociable Lapwing confirmed this so I paused and put my thinking cap on as to how I was going to pick my bird out. Most of the Lapwings were mere silhouettes but their crest, a feature lacking on my desired bird, were fairly obvious so I went through them one by one ticking off the common birds. Some 30 minutes later I had been through all the birds several times and was starting to get quite despondent when a noticeably different bird caught my eye. Its profile looked different to the rest of the birds and, crucially, it had black terminal bands. I was 90% sure I had found my bird but, given that it would be a UK tick, I wanted to be absolutely sure so I watched it intently through my scope. After a few minutes it took off immediately revealing the distinctive under wing pattern that differentiated it from its common cousin, and with much relief, I mentally ticked the 411th addition to my UK life list.
The 43 past records of the Social Lapwing in the UK hides the fact that it is in serious decline with records since the turn of the century much reduced, so much so that it is now listed as critically endangered. It is a migratory bird which breeds in Kazakhstan and winters in the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Sudan. Reflecting its critical endangered status, the population is believed to have declined by 80% after a major crash towards the end of the last century resulting in a large contraction of its range. The population is currently estimated as 17,000 but decreasing rapidly. In particular, the large Ukrainian breeding population which migrated to Iberia for the winter has been wiped out. The reasons for the crash in populations are not fully understood but habitat loss and hunting are undoubtably large contributors.
Birds in winter plumage have light brown wings with a black crown and supercilium which is bordered above and below in white. The underside of the bird is white. It has comparatively long black legs and a white tail with a black terminal band.
When I said it was distant ……. this is with my 800mm lens
I was joined by another birder called Bill who had dipped the Lapwing on the previous day. After another 30 minutes or so I re-found the bird and managed to get a much relieved Bill onto it. As the tide came in it flew somewhat closer, still too distant for photography but giving much better scope views. As the day progressed to high tide it relocated along with most of the Lapwing flock to a hidden area under the bank.
I decided, extremely rashly, to drive the 30 minutes or so to the Hayle Estuary where a Ringed Billed Gull had been continuously reported over the winter. Now regular readers of my blog will know that this is my bogie bird, see here, with a seemingly infinite list of previous uk dips under my belt. This is compounded by the fact that a few are always present in the Uk, especially in the winter, and the fact that I have seen literately thousands of these birds during my many trips to North America. The last specimen I dipped of this pesky gull was last winter at Chew valley when I managed to be there on pretty much the only day during the winter when it was not seen.
When I arrived the tide was high and most of the gulls were distant but as the tide dropped mud appeared and the gulls moved closer. The only likely confusion species is our common gull where immature birds can also have a black bill band. Given a good view, distinguishing features, such as a pale compared to brown iris, should be obvious. I went through the gull flock many times but, rather obviously, the Ring Billed Gull had been alerted to my visit and had bogged off! None the less there were many waders present, Curlews, Godwits, Redshank etc., to keep me amused. Come 17:00 the light was pretty much gone and I had to admit defeat with the number of my dips of this ghastly gull now numbering infinity plus one. Just as an interesting aside, mathematicians recognise a number of different infinities including countable and uncountable ones.
I departed in the gathering gloom on my 4 hour drive home determined that my latest non-encounter with my nemesis would not take the gloss of a very welcome February addition to my UK life list.
Well Spotted in the general murk!
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