White-tailed Lapwing
The White-tailed Lapwing or White-tailed Plover is a medium-sized, long-legged and fairly long-billed plover species.
Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and foreneck, paler face and grey breast. Its long yellow legs, pure white tail and distinctive brown, white and black wings make this species unmistakable.
The White-tailed Lapwing is the only plover species likely to be seen in other than very shallow water where it picks insects and other small prey mainly from the surface.
White-tailed Lapwings breed semi-colonially on inland marshes in Iraq, Iran and southern Russia. The Iraqi and Iranian breeders are mainly residents but Russian birds migrate south in winter to south Asia, the Middle East and north east Africa.
The White-tailed Lapwing is a very rare vagrant in western Europe, the first record in the UK being found in Warwickshire in July 1975.
There were 5 UK records prior to this bird which went “on tour” in 2010.
Seaforth, Merseyside: 27th and 28th May
Haarlem, Netherlands: 29th May
RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex: 7th and 8th July
WWT Slimbridge: Gloucestershire: 9th and 10th July
RSPB Dungeness, Kent: 11th to 21st July
All photos were taken from a considerable distance with a DSLR camera and telescope, hence the poor quality. However, they are acceptable record shots of a very rare bird!
Date: 17th July 2010
Location: Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent
Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and foreneck, paler face and grey breast. Its long yellow legs, pure white tail and distinctive brown, white and black wings make this species unmistakable.
The White-tailed Lapwing is the only plover species likely to be seen in other than very shallow water where it picks insects and other small prey mainly from the surface.
White-tailed Lapwings breed semi-colonially on inland marshes in Iraq, Iran and southern Russia. The Iraqi and Iranian breeders are mainly residents but Russian birds migrate south in winter to south Asia, the Middle East and north east Africa.
The White-tailed Lapwing is a very rare vagrant in western Europe, the first record in the UK being found in Warwickshire in July 1975.
There were 5 UK records prior to this bird which went “on tour” in 2010.
Seaforth, Merseyside: 27th and 28th May
Haarlem, Netherlands: 29th May
RSPB Rainham Marshes, Essex: 7th and 8th July
WWT Slimbridge: Gloucestershire: 9th and 10th July
RSPB Dungeness, Kent: 11th to 21st July
All photos were taken from a considerable distance with a DSLR camera and telescope, hence the poor quality. However, they are acceptable record shots of a very rare bird!
Date: 17th July 2010
Location: Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent
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