Banded Lapwings

Near Little River

It was the winter solstice, chilly but sunny. A beautiful day for a club excursion.

About thirty members of Geelong Field Nats gathered at the appointed meeting place before moving on to the main event. This was the view to the north, with the Little River in the middle distance, so most of us turned our backs, wrapped our scarves tighter and chatted in the sunshine. But not JN. He must have been scanning with his binoculars because when he announced quietly "Banded Lapwing" we all snapped to attention.

We grabbed our binoculars, a scope was erected and we scanned the paddock. The Banded Plovers were indeed in the paddock between us and the river, surprisingly well-hidden in the low stubble. In the photo above (on my computer screen) I can make out about ten birds but the final count was 23.