SPOTTED!
Wildlife in (and around) Hailsham
by Tim Fox
March weather proved to be as unreliable as ever with sub-zero temperatures one week, followed by raging gales and scorching sunshine the next. When the latter occurred, it was time to get out and do some “pushbike birding”. This does not entail cycling single-handed whilst looking anywhere but where I am going through binoculars; rather it is cycling short distances, mostly at low speed, and stopping to have a scan around with binoculars and ears. Cuckoo Trail is good – of plenty of great habitat for birds to nest and forage for food but, if you are prepared for a short foray through country lanes, via Shepham Lane, Polegate, you end up back on the Pevensey Levels. Lapwing (peewits/plover) have been quite a draw recently, with large flocks several hundred strong frequenting the Levels and often spotted in strength on the field next to the Shepham wind turbines. Drawn to the mostly unfrozen area by recent freezing weather in the east of the country in February, they flock and graze together (there is safety in numbers) drawn to muddy fields and shore edges probing the soft surface for invertebrates.
Named as green plover or lapwing, derived from its flappy way of flying, a lot of people will know it better as peewit (after the sound of its call which means, like chiffchaff and hoopoe, it’s English name is onomatopoeic).
The scientific name for the species vanellus vanellus, is a tautonym (i.e. the same word repeated), with vanellus, as all you lovers of Latin language will remember, meaning little fan, a reference to the sound its wings make in-flight.
About the size of a pigeon (but with longer legs), its plumage seems to be a black and white with an upright tuft of hair at the back of its head, but closer viewer in the correct lights reveals that it is yet another bird with iridescent plumage, its back shimmering dark green or purple in the right light.
Until recently, I didn’t realise the rear underside of the bird was always orange-brown, and not the result of a morning after a dodgy meal!
This time of year, look out on the Levels for the tumbling display flights and calls or courtship and then, later in the year, look for the adults protecting their chicks by dive-bombing predators; there are plenty of beasts with claws or talons looking for a tasty lapwing chick snack.
Credit: Northern Lapwing by Wayne Davies – BirdGuides
Tim can be found most Saturday mornings gracing the airwaves with Pat Bradley on 95.9 Hailsham FM, discussing local happenings between 8 and 10am.
