This bloke came along to check me out earlier. We used to call these spur winged plovers when I was a kid.  They have a nasty spur on the joint of their wing that they can use to attack. Not uncommon for them to dive bomb people when walking close to eggs and babies.

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Nice shot!!! Yeah we call them Plovers too. They can be noisey beggars also. ;D I'm enjoying your photos. :)

Jeff

Getting to be a dab hand with the Canon!  Nice and sharp at f5.6.

cheers

Went out today to check the local lapwing population and was surprised first too find a nest with three eggs and then also to find a pair with a young one

First photo shows Mum on three eggs and Dad ready to attack. When I said nest above that is not really true as they simply make a depression on the ground

Second photo is a close up of the three eggs

Third shows why they were called spur winged plovers. This is the spur on the wing as she rushed towards me on the ground when I walked towards the eggs. ( I was going backwards  :o ) At about the same time Dad zoomed in from the air and I actually felt the breeze as he zoomed past my left ear.

Fourth is a young one, possibly a few days old running flat tack with me behind him.

Fifth is at the call of either Mum or Dad he dropped to his belly and crawled under some grass. It is only about 4 inches long. Camouflage is amazing

Great day shooting.

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Some good shots there. Mongrel cats sure take there toll on the young ones.  >:(

Jeff

Chally wrote on Aug 13^th, 2012 at 3:33pm:

Some good shots there. Mongrel cats sure take there toll on the young ones.  >:( Jeff

Yep, three or four eggs are quite common but it is rare to see a full clutch make it.  Lot of foxes in this area and they are bad as well as the cats

Without a doubt, as a beautiful native bird as they are, during the duck season they will expose a bloke crawling on some ducks for a shot every time. They square and alarm the ducks every time.  Just as well they are not good eating!!   Garry

Sorry, Squark

We have breeding pair across the road again.
They seem to have at least 2 nestings a year.
Most often 2 eggs will hatch.
6 months ago they had all 4 eggs hatch.3 survived.
Presently just one young from the most recent following the oldies.

Aart