Northern Lapwings in New Jersey

On January 14, a lucky birder found a group of three Northern Lapwings in a cow pasture in New Egypt, NJ. On Sunday, my mom and I decided to go see these unusual plovers that had somehow made their way from Europe to central New Jersey. We when arrived at the location along Brynmore Road in New Egypt, we found a number of birders set up along the roadside with spotting scopes pointed into the field. As soon as we started scanning, we spotted one of the birds. Not long after, we found the other two even farther back.

Although the lapwings never came close while we were watching, we were able to get excellent views of the birds through a spotting scope. Even with the great distance from which we were watching, the green iridescence on the wings was spectacular!

Several times as we watched, one of the lapwings raised its large wings into the air. After doing this a few times, the bird flew into the air, circled around a few times, and then landed again.

These gorgeous rarities represented yet another "lifer" that my mom and I were able to see so far this year!