Nesting Lapwing

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tarkineus
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Nesting Lapwing

tarkineus
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To view whole image > Right Click > "View Image" > (May not work with I/E but will with Firefox)

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

GeorgeP
GeorgeP's picture

Another brave effort on your part, Tark. I found a pair nesting on the roadside near work. At lunchtime I walked down to take a closer look and determine how close they'd allow me to approach. About 20m was as close as I got before they attacked and repeatedly swooped me.

Cheers,

George
Melbourne, VIC

smeedingo2
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HI Tark
Danger man you like the dangerous missions but have pulled it off hope with no scars LOLOL.Top stuff.

tarkineus
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George - I'm wondering just how serious they are. If I wasn't 'confronting' them with my camera held to my face, would they actually strike? They'll swoop to within feet of me but break off the attack when I scream, "CHICKEN!!!" (*kidding*). After all, they are not likely to risk crashing and injuring themselves when they have a nest to protect. Maybe it's a matter of who blinks first! Thanks mate.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

tarkineus
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dingo - one of these days I'll push my luck too far and one of these birds will turn out to be an avian 'suicide bomber'! LOL

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

Tassie

Mate, top stuff,love the shots especially the nest.
Hope you had your hard hat on.
Tark when I am shooting Plovers I take my dog to distract them ha ha ha.

tarkineus
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No worries mate, with my thick skull, no hard hat necessary!
Thanks mate. ;-)

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

marj
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We need to keep to the principles of ethical bird watching/photography ..

Accept good distant views of a bird rather than risk causing stress through approaching too closely or putting them to flight.

Avoid disturbance around nests, display areas and roost sites.

Usually, photography at a nest should be avoided. Birds choose nesting sites because of the protection offered: altering the site by removing branches may result in the elimination of shade or open the nest to predators, and your visit may assist predators to find eggs or young & your continued presence may drive the parents away.

tarkineus
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Thanks for commenting marj.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

marj
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No worries :-)

My first instinct was to edit the post to remove the nest photo, many bird photography forums do not allow images of nests and eggs. But I thought it preferable to raise the issue and let everyone decide their own stand on it.

tarkineus
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You made a wise decision :-)

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

marj
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I doubt that it was wise.

Probably just the course of least resistance. I know I can't talk people around to a viewpoint they don't currently share on an online forum.

tarkineus
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Undoubtedly you have access to my email address.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

Lyn
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Having just caught up with this thread, I hope I haven't done the wrong thing.
I have posted a pic of a Grey Fantail in the Interesting Sightings Forum.
I certainly didn't disturb the bird and was unaware that this may be a no-no.

Tassie

Gidday Lyn, You have not done the wrong thing.
In my opinion there is absolutely nothing wrong with photographing nests or birds nesting unless you
1. Disturb any of the surroundings.
2. Disturb the birds (Some species will desert if the even if they suspect you know their nest is there)
3. Handle the nest,eggs or surrounds. (Big No No)
National Geographic,National parks and Various Researchers all photograph nesting birds (How else do we learn about them and continue to learn about them)
In addition most of us have cameras that have the ability to shoot from a "Safe" distance so as not to disturb the birds and still enjoy the moment and their beauty.
Tark, the Plovers up here unfortunately do not get to hatch their eggs as the council regulary runs over them with their slashers I see that as more of a danger than your pic.
Good luck with it folks.

Lyn
Lyn's picture

Thanks Tassie - I agree with all you say. I was (and always am) extremely cautious around nests - usually in my own backyard.
When I enlarged the photo, I could clearly see the beauty of her nest - something I had never witnessed before.

tarkineus
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Thanks Tassie.
.
And Lyn, aside from an early post of my own on nesting blackbirds shot last year, it would appear that BiBY already has a well established precedent for accepting posts of nesting birds. Another quick search may reveal more than this one example. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/forum/messages.cfm?threadid=00B6AA76-F62E-BFDB-262095C5C512A775

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

bushanwater
bushanwater's picture

This is a very old argument and I see merit in both sides. I struggled with it myself when photographing birds at nests again recently. The end result is that I make a decision on when to pull out based on my experience at reading the bird's body language. Different species and different individuals react differently so there is no hard and fast rule and yes I do acidently disturb birds from their nests at times but I have never had one desert the nest. Like all arguements this one has extreems on both sides and common sence finds the middle ground. My two bob's worth anyway.

See Yez
Trev

bushanwater
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By the way Tark, i have been thinking of doing a plover shoot myself when I get the chance.I'll just have to see how it goes.

See Yez
Trev

tarkineus
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You echo my own sentiments entirely, bush.

Many thanks.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

marj
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You all seem to agree with me - make up your own mind whether what you are doing is ethical - but have a think about it first!

The Willie Wagtail in the link was obviously not disturbed by the photographers presence.

bushanwater
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And I think that is the key Marj, thinking about what we are doing. Along similar lines, I worked on a small crops farm quite a few years ago. The chemical spray tank I used had a small leak in the back and one day I came across a plover/lapwing's nest right in the middle of a row I had to drive down. I had to drive down that track twice every second day so I stopped, frightened away the parent bird and then covered the eggs and eventually young with an ice cream container untill I had passed. Eventually I saw one of them hatching and two days later they were gone. Imagine what those parents and chicks went through and they survived. Having said that different species and individual birds(and all animals)react diffferently and each individual will react differently on different days. More like people than we usually think.

See Yez
Trev

VernJ
VernJ's picture

Hi! Tark great action shot and the image of the eggs (with flower garland) is very beautiful. With regard to just how belligerent a Lapwing might get in defense of nest or offspring; I think you should consider this from the BiBy bird finder " Birds have large yellow wattles covering the face, and are equipped with a thorny spur that projects from the wrist on each wing. The spur is yellow with a black tip. ". My understanding is that this spur, which all birds have a skeletal remnant of, goes back to the flying dinosaurs.

Lapwing will rake that spur across the target's body in a glancing blow with considerable effect. There are scores of them on our golf course and I am pretty sure I have seen them strike a dog in this fashion. We were terrified of them as kids, a guy at our school got scratched pretty badly, apparently took ages to heal. As with magpies, a fast moving target makes a Lapwing very agitated.

They do seem to select nest sites with out due care and attention. They will as likely nest right next to a pathway that 300 golfers walk past every day as select a site in a seldom visited corner of the course. Our ground staff employ a system where they put stakes in place so they mow around the nest. Sometimes that little island of grass has a collection of golf balls as players decide not to retrieve their ball. I find that walking in under an umbrella calms them somewhat, apparently big silver domes are not a known threat.

So be warned them Lapwings are packing … Cheers!

VJ

tarkineus
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Hi Vern, thanks for commenting. I was certainly aware of the Lapwing's spikes but doubted that it would actually strike. To do so it would have risked crashing and I credit birds with considerably more common sense than us humans. My sense of it was that it was deterring me from getting closer to her nest eggs that were shot at 600mm from quite a distance - nowhere near as close as the picture might suggest.

Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour

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