More flocking Lapwings...

Our work this afternoon was interupted for a while as we watched a huge flock of Lapwings [Vanellus vanellus] Vanneau huppé and Golden Plovers [Pluvialis apricaria] Pluvier doré flying around, up and down this bit of the valley.

There are no pictures...
too busy watching....
and, when they settled, they were too distant for all but the 'scope...
and with the poor light...
impossible.

But I can have a go at describing what we saw...

Some large flocks of Lapwings gradually melded into one huge 'committee'...
silently swooping and wheeling around us.
Occasionally, like many committees...
they would split into smaller groups that seemed to want to go in different directions.

They would pick up other small bands that were coming in from either side of the valley.

They swooped and turned....
glided...
flapped around...
dived through the group next to them...
and formed back up again.

The flock seemed to grow and grow....

At that point...
amongst the cloud of swirling birds appeared a small flock of slightly smaller, narrow-winged waders...
these joined in with the swooping, diving, turning Lapwings.
All were semi-sillhoutted against a grey sky but we were pretty sure they'd be Golden Plover.

Then a few of the joint flock started to get lower and lower...
as if about to land...
and then driven by the committee urge they lifted again...
swirling to confuse raptors...
and us!

Time after time they repeated this... the sight of more than five hundred swirling waders is something to be marvelled at.

Then suddenly, they began to settle in the field next door....
spiralling down...
the spiral cloud getting denser as they descended....
all down, they all rose again and spiraled down...
and again and again!
Eventually they calmed down...
they'd decided to feed...
I went and got the big 'scope.

Focused the 'scope onto the flock and confirmed that the other waders were indeed Golden Plover, their golden plumage clear and , for the conditions, bright...
then, as one, they all rose...
but we'd already seen that they weren't feeding.
They'd been just standing there...
facing into the wind...
ready for take-off.

Again, they didn't go far....
and soon settled again.
This happened a couple more times before they settled properly...
and then more waders, both Lapwing and Golden Plover, appeared...
and also spiralled down to join them.

Although it was early, they were probably settling down to roost.

All in all, there must have been over 500 Lapwing and about half that number of Golden Plover settled in the field and with any luck, they'll still be here tomorrow morning having an early feed!

The last time we saw them in this number was north of Paris in October 2005... we wrote about them here.

24-11-2012 Update.... they'd gone!

Flocking Committees!

I was sitting in bed this morning with a mug of tea, watching the birds out of the window, when one of the flocks of Lapwings (or Green Plovers or Peewits if you are so inclined) muddled into view.
They seem to be birds of committee status... or a collections of politicians.

They were flying to the right... initially.... but then two decided to head back the way they'd come.
A few more followed them and then the rest of the flock...

First they flew to the right....

then they flew to the left...

No, wait.... at least three haven't followed... they are ploughing on steadily towards the right.
About turn the rest of the flock... they'd decided.

...then to the right. Again!

But...
they had not yet come to a firm decision...
one, then a further two, then a group started to fly back the way they'd come...
and again the rest of the flock followed...
everyone this time!

No... a breakaway group from the middle went right this time! Followed by....

...the rest!

This happened about four more times... before, quite suddenly, as they were all flying left, as one they turned and flew strongly off to the right and disappeared behind the trees.

A few minutes later a smaller group flew left to right without wavering at all.
Flocking committees!*

There's always a rebel in any committee!

*A committee is a dark corridor up which ideas are lured and quietly strangled!