This may seem like an odd contribution, as i was out on graceham road i 
noticed that all the mud was clay colored. Since the lapwing forages 
for worms, the beak is probably caked with mud and obscuring your view 
of its true dark color.
Having not seen more photos, this is just a hypothesis.
Ben Weinstein
On Mar 5, 2005, at 10:52 AM, Eddie Chapman wrote:

> Hello June and list members,
> Interesting observation regarding bill colour. I see thousands of 
> Lapwings
> every year and have never seen, or heard of a Lapwing with anything 
> else
> than a dark bill. Did anyone get any photo's of the bird showing the 
> orange
> red bill.
>
> All the best,
> Eddie Chapman, Voss.  Norway.
> http://www.birdwatching-in-norway.com
> Photo Album: The Coast including photo's of King Eider.
>