Sorry about the spelling errors in the last message but my power started 
flickering just as I was finished writing it up, so I sent it out 
immediately. 10 seconds later my power failed before coming back online 
after 1 minute. I didn't want to have to write that up again.

I failed to make mention in the version below (with most spelling errors 
corrected) that the bird being seen now appears to be in nearly full 
alternate plumage. What I am wondering is if this progression could be 
completed in just a few weeks or if it should take longer? It would 
certainly explain the differences in the images of yesterday and nearly 3 
weeks ago.

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward Boyd" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 12:23 AM
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Photos of Lapwing in sunlight


> Greetings,
>
> So much for saying "the third time is the charm", it took me four trips to 
> finally succeed in seeing this astounding bird. What a beauty! The bird 
> was at this location from its arrival at 11:50 this morning and was still 
> present when I left at about 5:45. I'm sure it flew off to its normal 
> roosting ground, wherever that is, but I don't have verification of that. 
> Today the bird was on the north side of the field where there is a fence 
> line separating the field in which this bird is being seen from a 
> neighboring property. The bird was generally working along a swale that 
> parallels the fence line, working in the swale and the areas near the 
> fence line. On the other side of the fence line there are 4-5 hay rolls 
> visible from the roadway. The bird was mostly observed near the area of 
> the hay rolls, but on the south side of the fence to about 100 yards from 
> the roadway.
>
> While the group of birders was enjoying this bird this afternoon, several 
> of the locals stopped along the way to make some comments about recent 
> sighting and observations. Some of these are remarkable and need further 
> documentation. Here goes:
>
> 1. We were told that the bird was actually absent from the fields only for 
> several days after it was last observed on the 17th. After several days, 
> the bird was reported to have returned and has been seen regularly by the 
> locals since. I believe it is being observed mostly in the afternoons. 
> This seems to be the case over the last couple of days as well.
>
> 2. A local on Blacks Mill Rd. reported to someone that the Lapwing turned 
> up sometime between August and October, but I believe August was the 
> stated time frame. If true, the bird had been at this location for 6 
> months before being discovered by a birder. They knew the bird was 
> something that they had never seen before but didn't know what to think of 
> it. Who knows, but wait, the legend gets oh so much better.
>
> 3. A local reported to Barbara Gerst (I'm not sure of the last name 
> spelling, forgive me.) of Montgomery County while she was there today, 
> that there are actually TWO LAPWINGS BEING SEEN! Sometimes the birds have 
> supposedly been seen together! Barbara questioned the woman who then 
> described two birds of similar appearance with the correct plumages, 
> crests, etc. She did not describe a second bird that sounded like a 
> Killdeer.
>
> 4. This seems too unbelievable to be true. So after Barbara left, another 
> local, along with his wife and another older woman in the car, stopped 
> along the road and inquired to us if the BIRDS, not bird, were in the 
> field. We asked him do you mean THE Lapwing and he responded, "No, there's 
> two of them." He stated that sometime last week, both birds were in the 
> puddle near Graceham Rd., in the northwest corner of the field at the same 
> time. Another local who also saw the birds quickly drove to her home and 
> retrieved a digital camera in which she took some photos of both birds. 
> She is reported to have captured on one image both birds at the same time. 
> I have asked for a copy of this photo for documentation for the MD Records 
> Committee. It has not yet arrived. I am told that the second bird is not 
> clear in the image but should be identifiable as a lapwing from color 
> patterning.
>
> While this was being relayed to me, both ladies were in the car nodding 
> their heads in agreement to everything he, the local, said. He stated that 
> one of the birds was performing a behavior in front of the other one that 
> could only be interpreted as courting. He said the bird would prance in 
> front of the other one and bob it head back and forth. He said it was 
> comical to watch. He stated that he also took some photos of both birds, 
> but none of the birds are captured on the same image. Shouldn't be too 
> difficult to detect differences in plumage to verify this if it's true as 
> long as the images are halfway decent. These were taken on actual film and 
> he hasn't gotten the roll developed yet.
>
> 5. This got me wondering, so I looked at the images posted on the link 
> from the message below
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5fw3t
>
> and compared them to images that are on the mdbirds.org site taken by 
> several photographers two weeks ago. Here's that link:
>
> http://www.mdbirds.org/birds/gallery/lapwing.html
>
> This proved interesting but I don't have any knowledge of molt sequences 
> or timing for this species. A molt would be the only way, in my opinion, 
> to explain some of the distinct differences between the birds on the two 
> websites.
>
> Let's call the images taken yesterday and posted today by June Tveekrem 
> Lapwing A. The photos on MDBIRDS by George Jett, Bob Mumford and Mark 
> Hoffman we'll call Lapwing B. The birds on MDBIRDS all appear to be the 
> same individual and were taken two 1/2 weeks ago.
>
> a. On the folded wings of Lapwing B, especially when facing left, there 
> are obvious light edges on at least 4-5 of the covert feathers. On Lapwing 
> A, there do not appear to be as many edgings and those that occur do not 
> seem to match up with the patterns on bird B. This could be a result of 
> wear after two weeks, I suppose. I need to spend some time cleaning up the 
> images that are on the MDBIRDS site to brighten them up a bit and then put 
> all of the images on one page to make direct comparisons. I haven't had 
> time.
>
> b. Lapwing A has some white spotting in the dark crown above the eyeline, 
> especially over the left eye. This is very apparent in the 4th, 5th, and 
> 6th images from the top on the site. Images of Lapwing B do not seem to 
> show this feature. Compare the head-on images on both sites and the spots 
> absence on Lapwing B are obvious.
>
> c. Lapwing A's face pattern seems a bit different than Lapwing B. Again it 
> is most apparent when looking at left profiles. On Lapwing A, the brown 
> line extending from the rear of the eye and the black line extending from 
> below the eye appear to nearly merge. On Lapwing B the white line 
> separating the brown and black lines seems to be broader.
>
> d. Although some of the images of Lapwing A show a dark bill, there are at 
> least 3 that show that the bill is an orangish-red. None of the images of 
> Lapwing B record this from any angle. Is this something that can only be 
> distinguished in bright sunlight? The bird I saw today through thickening 
> clouds clearly had an orangish-red bill. The sun was not out while I was 
> there, although the lighting must have been better than when Lapwing B was 
> photographed.
>
> e. If these differences don't seem to be significant enough to make a 
> judgment or appear too close to call, take note of the throat color of 
> both birds. This is the most glaring difference in the comparisons. In all 
> of the images of Lapwing B taken over two weeks ago, including the birds 
> in flight by Mark Hoffman, the throat is obviously white and the black 
> mustache stripe terminates below the eye without connecting to the black 
> of the bird's upper chest. On Lapwing A, in all images, the throat is 
> clearly and indisputably black all the way from the base of the bill to 
> the chest. Is this a result of a spring molt? The face and neck pattern 
> has certainly changed if these are images of the same bird.
>
> You be the judge. If your going out there to look at this/these bird(s) 
> please keep a sharp eye out for the possibility of a second bird and try 
> to get photo documentation if you find out the local rumors are true. Good 
> luck.
>
> Ed Boyd
> Westminster, MD
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "June Tveekrem" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 8:07 PM
> Subject: [MDOSPREY] Photos of Lapwing in sunlight
>
>
>> I've posted several photos of the Lapwing at this URL:
>> http://tinyurl.com/5fw3t
>> (select "Lapwing Photos" from the menu on the left).
>>
>> The photos were taken yesterday (Thursday March 3) from 2:30-3:00 pm. 
>> They aren't as high quality as the ones on the MOS website, but they show 
>> the resplendent colors of the bird well since the sun was shining 
>> brightly that afternoon.  Enjoy!*
>>
>> *
>>
>> -- 
>> June Tveekrem
>> Columbia, Howard Co, MD
>> tweekiebird AT toadmail DOT com