January 3, 2011:

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Our goal was to track all the sightings of Northern Lapwings in North America in late 2010, and hopefully to top-it-off with a Lapwing sighting on a Christmas Bird Count, on a count day. And thanks to Newfoundland's excellent birders we got that record-setting CBC on January 2nd at their Ferryland CBC, for only the third Canadian CBC Lapwing since CBCs began in 1900! Congratulations to everybody who focused on Lapwings this past year, and especially to the Newfoundland team who ran the anchor-"lap" and recorded the Lapwing into the CBC historical record book! Plus the unexpected icing-on-the-cake from a Prince Edward Island lapwing on January 1st (see the photo above). This great final chapter is probably more than any of us could have hoped for in late November when this Lapwing saga started in Quebec, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Now is a good time to end our active daily tracking of Lapwings from Labrador down to the Carolinas, and to give thanks to all the many expert and helpful birders, naturalists and photographers in many parts of eastern Canada and the USA. Its been an enjoyable experience since Nov 26th. This site will be updated and then frozen this week, and the daily update postings will stop. You can continue to track the Newfoundland bird(s) at this site... Discussions - nf.birds | Google Groups ... Here's wishing everybody a Healthy New Year, and more great experiences with birds and Nature! Tom (robben99@gmail.com)

January 2, 2011:

YESSSS! Newfoundland birders got Lapwing today Jan2nd on their Ferryland CBC count-day!! CONGRATULATIONS! Plus another Lapwing photographed at Prince Edward Island on Jan 1st.

January 1, 2011:

It looks like our 2010 "Lapwing Adventure" will be heading into its final but unpredictable conclusion over the next day or two, when the Ferryland, Newfoundland CBC has its count-day on Jan 2 (scheduled) or Jan 3rd (because of worsening weather forecast for Jan2).

1) Newfoundland had a Lapwing staked-out (seen Dec28) for its Dec29 CapeRace CBC but weather delayed that count until Dec30, and the bird was not to be found that day.

2) Newfoundland now has another chance! It has another Lapwing (perhaps the same bird) staked-out (seen on Dec31 and Jan1) for its Jan2 Ferryland CBC, although again, weather is threatening to delay that count day, and there is no guarantee the bird will stay there, within that CBC circle. As we know, Lapwings can disappear after brief visits.

How rare are Northern Lapwings on Christmas Bird Counts? Since 1900 there have been ONLY THREE previous Lapwings recorded on CBC count-days on US or Canadian soil (not counting the four birds which were recorded on French and British atlantic islands)! There was ONE in the US in 1999 at Bombay Hook, Delaware, and TWO in Canada, in 1983 in St.Johns and 2000 in Ferryland.... yes, that's the same Ferryland CBC that has high hopes ten years later to duplicate its rare feat, tomorrow, or Monday, depending on the rainy/snowy weather.

Will Canada get its third CBC count-day Lapwing since 1900 tomorrow/monday? I think we will be waiting anxiously for their report.

3) Meanwhile, can the U.S. find a Lapwing for one of its CBCs in these last few days of Christmas Bird Counts? Only time will tell, but meanwhile we are all rooting for our birding colleagues in Newfoundland tomorrow!

Good Luck, Good Birding, and have a Healthy New Year,

Tom and Shoon

2011 January 1