River lapwing
Vanellus duvaucelii
Ratchaburi Town
17.09.10
I found myself unexpectedly free for the last hour of available light today and took my rig round to the local rice paddy, about 1 km from here. I thought I would practise on common birds with my new toys. When I got there I thought it was going to be a waste of time as it was very overcast and big, dirty rain clouds were forming. And then in a wet paddy I saw a black head and grey body in among the common red-wattled lapwings and I thought: "River lapwing" and sure enough, there was one. A solitary river lapwing with about 8 red-wattled lapwing, some cattle egrets, a chinese pond heron and a couple of white-breasted waterhens. A first for this sorely neglected patch. As I fumbled to get a picture a person walked into the birds' safety zone and off they flew but they came back about 5 minutes later and notwithstanding the poor light, I got the above, usable shot, a record shot.
There is no doubt, the river lapwing is my bird! I can't think of when I ever went birding and had a bad time, when I was disappointed. Sure you could drop your bins into the drink, but......I'll let you now when I have had a bad day birding!
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