3 Northern Lapwing in New Jersey

Yesterday I heard about 3 Northern Lapwing found at the back of a pasture in New Egypt down in Ocean County (these will be the 4th NJ record for this species).  That's about an hour and a half from my home.  I had time to make it there before dark, but not unless I ditched the kids.  So I did the dad thing and waited until they got home and took them out to look at a Canvasback in nearby Cushetunk Lake, reported earlier in the day by Joe Dolan.

This morning, after the kids got on the bus, I cruised down to New Egypt with Alan Mart, and the lapwings were still there.

Here's the crowd gathered to see the birds...a half dozen more were down the road a few yards.

Here's the giganormous muddy pasture they are in...looks like the Dutch countryside to me.  Maybe it does to the lapwings too!

And here is one...

two...

and three Northern Lapwings.

Not something you see every day on this side of the Atlantic, and a scene I never expect to see here again!  It has been an unprecedented year for lapwings in North America, with multiple birds seen up and down the East Coast.  A few more of my distant digiscoped photos are on Flickr.