Lapwings, also known as peewits for their distinctive call, have returned to a farm in Norfolk after an absence of more than ten years. The birds were spotted by Kate Blincoe near Caistor St Edmund, where she saw a flock of five or six broad-winged birds shimmering in the sky.
Blincoe recalls lapwings as birds of her childhood, nesting in the same field every spring and gathering in flocks during winter. She remembers their crests and petrol-sheened plumage that changed from dark green to bronze or purple in the light. At night, the family would go on pyjama-clad safaris to watch the birds feed on invertebrates by moonlight.
The lapwing's decline in the UK has been driven primarily by habitat loss. Blincoe's father recalls huge flocks following the plough 60 years ago, and despite the Protection of Lapwings Act of 1928, the birds were still commonly eaten and their eggs prized as a delicacy. For over a decade, aside from occasional nomadic groups, no lapwings had been seen on the farm.
Now, the sky and ground are dominated by corvids such as rooks and jackdaws. However, cold temperatures on the continent can drive lapwings across the North Sea, often arriving ahead of a cold snap. While the breeding population is still missed, seeing the birds return at all has lifted spirits.
