Driving home from town two weeks ago and on the edge of the village I noticed a recently ploughed field covered with birds. At first glance I thought they were all gulls but slowed down and noticed Fieldfares and what we in Suffolk (and some other places) call Peewits, but are properly known as Lapwings or sometimes Green Plover. When I pulled over and got out to take a photo they all went flying off to the other side of the field.
So these photos of the Peewits is taken through the car window and not as sharp as I'd like but you can just about see their wispy crest and the tinge of iridescent green, pink and purple.
In my other book with beautiful illustrations - An illustrated Country Year by Celia Lewis - is this below which gives a better idea of the colours - not that I could do any better!
The name Lapwing comes from the noise their wings make in springtime aerial displays. And their call is 'pee-wit, pee-wit' which explains that name. They generally live in large flocks, although in declining numbers when it isn't the breeding season and some are resident with others arriving on the east coast in autumn and winter.
They were once killed for their meat and eggs and selling the eggs was big business until the 1926 Lapwing Act. The chicks can run and feed themselves as soon as they hatch but the adults will defend the young by running off dragging a wing as if they are injured to lure away the predator.
And a poem from Edward Thomas to finish
Two Pewits
Under the after-sunset sky
Two pewits sport and cry,
More white than is the moon on high
Riding the dark surge silently;
More black than earth. Their cry
Is the one sound under the sky.
They alone move, now low, now high,
And merrily they cry
To the mischievous Spring sky,
Plunging earthward, tossing high,
Over the ghost who wonders why
So merrily they cry and fly,
nor choose 'twixt earth and sky,
While the moon's quarter silently
Rides, and earth rests as silently.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
How lovely to see so many Lapwings. I've heard them called Peewits, and of course that name echoes their distinctive shrill call.
ReplyDeleteI never knew them as Lapwings until I was much older
DeleteIn my ignorance, I never knew a Peewit was the same as a Lapwing. Thanks for this post, Sue (and the poem)
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome!
DeleteWe call them peewits in Norfolk but I don't see them these days. They used to be quite common.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I've seen any for ages - hence the photo
DeleteOne of my strongest childhood memories are huge flocks of Peewits in the fields bordering Shop Lane. They were so beautiful with the iridescent sheen on their wings and their lamenting cry. Love the Edward Thomas poem, though I'm not keen on the last word of every line rhyming!
ReplyDeleteIn the 60's they were always on the fields in winter.
DeleteWeird forced rhyming I reckon for the poem
When you see a flock of them it's hard to believe that as a species they are in big trouble. Intensification of farming seems to be the main culprit.
ReplyDeleteIt's the first time I've seen any for years. Now very rare
DeleteWow! You lucky lady! I haven't seen peewits in years. Increasingly rare in Britain and here in Europe.
ReplyDeleteHad to stop when I saw them and they've not been there again since
DeleteLapwings to us, not heard of them being called Green Plovers, although I can see why they might be. As for peewits, I thought that was a different bird entirely!
ReplyDeleteAlways Peewits for me until I was old!
DeleteI haven't seen Lapwings for years but used to see them when I was living in Kent. It was always a delight to see them rising from the fields.
ReplyDeleteThese were busy feeding along with gulls and fieldfares - a treat to see
DeleteI’d forgotten the word peewit. Mum and Dad used to say peewit, they were Suffolk people.
ReplyDeleteYes always Peewits here
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen one, but the colours would not stand out with my colour vision.
ReplyDeleteThey have that glint of colour that changes in the light
DeleteI have enough trouble identifying birds without them being known by so many different names. I have often thought I have seen a field full of what I thought were small Gulls, who knows what they might have been!
ReplyDeleteLots of different gulls around, especially near the coast. I have to look them up to know which
DeleteWell spotted Sue!
ReplyDeleteRight place right time!
DeleteInteresting facts and I enjoyed the illustrations. Fascinated to read the bit about dragging a wing to distract predators away from their young.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
I think some other birds do this too but can't remember which
DeleteI'm never good at identifying birds as they often move too quickly for me to get a good look at them! You did a good job with the zoom to capture their pretty color for us!
ReplyDeleteNot good through car windows but a lucky spot
DeleteI love that little poem, and your little peewits. You captured the iridescence nicely. We have a bird called a 'killdeer' that must be related to them. It lays its eggs on the ground and the parents will put on a display of being wounded while it lures the predator away from the nest. The name killdeer is from their shrill cry. They are plovers too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a relative definitely
DeleteLovely to come across the peewits feeding in a field. When bird numbers decline/disappear and then come back in to view, it is always welcomed. Birds move suddenly and you got a picture that shows the color and markings very nicely.
ReplyDeleteThese were certainly more commonly seen than they are now
DeleteWe used to see a lot of these in the fields nearby but hardly ever see them now. However we do see lots of ring necked parakeets and red kite. Strange how some birds increase and others fade away.
ReplyDeleteParakeets haven't got to Suffolk from London yet and Red Kites are just arriving here from the west, saw my first one while at Son's house recently
DeleteCute crest on the head of the Lapwings.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Very distinctive crest
DeleteHere in Maryland, we are on a great migration route, but lapwings are still listed as "casual to accidental" visitors. Too bad, they are colorful!
ReplyDeleteNot often seen here nowadays
DeleteWhat a lovely bird! I have seen several when I've been back but not as many as you saw in the field. Love the illustrations.
ReplyDeleteIn the 90's we often saw them at the smallholding by the coast not noticed them here in Mid Suffolk before
DeleteVery pretty and unusual birds!
ReplyDeleteSome lovely colours in the wings
DeleteIn Dutch they are called 'kievit' (pronounced kee-vit), in Frisian they are called 'ljip' (pronounced lyeep). It used to be tradition for farmer's sons to go hunt for the first kievit-egg of the season, which was then presented to the queen. Nowadays, the egg needs to stay in the nest, and the finder gets a certificate, a small statue, media recognition and €15.
ReplyDeleteThe first egg is recognised as the first signal of spring, because it is only laid when the average temperature was a certain number of degrees during a certain number of days.