In view of the possibility of a second Northern Lapwing raised by Ed Boyd, 
it may be worth during future sightings to pay close attention to the wing 
shape(s):  I don't have the book with me at the moment but, as I recall, 
"Shorebirds" by Hayman, Marchant, and Prater describes differences in the 
wing shapes between male and female (and juvenile) Northern Lapwings, with 
the male shown as having a more rounded (at the tip) wing.  It probably 
will be necessary to see the bird(s) in flight to make this comparison, but 
if anyone gets more flight photos, the wing shape should be compared to 
that of the bird photographed by Mark Hoffman.   For what it's worth, when 
I tried to sex the bird in Mark's photos while looking at the drawings in 
"Shorebirds" I thought the wing shape seemed closer to that of a male, but 
I was not sure enough to be convinced.

Harvey Mudd

At 12:43 AM 3/5/05 -0500, you wrote:
>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
>>
>>___________________________________
>>S. Harvey Mudd
>>NIMH/DIRP/LMB
>>Building 35, Room 1B1006
>>35 Lincoln Dr.
>>BETHESDA MD 20892
>>tel: 301-496-0681;  fax 301-402-0245
>>email: