Friday Photo: 25 May

May 25th, 2012 at 8:48 am by Chthoniid

This recent Australian immigrant is extending its range in NZ. It is a somewhat aggressive bird with a harsh call. Locally, we call it the spur-winged plover. In Australia it’s better known as the masked lapwing.

click for larger, higher res image

Tags: Friday Photo, masked lapwing, spurwinged plover

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17 Responses to “Friday Photo: 25 May”

jackryan (34) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 8:55 am
Nope in Brisbane we called it “that Fxxxing Plover” after it took some of our scalp off.
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Chthoniid (1,921) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 9:10 am
LOL! Ok, that’s a new one to me
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pw (15) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 9:51 am
all of what jack said plus nasty noisey fxxx,ers—–also of brisbane
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Mark (1,134) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 10:35 am
I was set upon by one of these at Paraparaumu Gofl course. Fiercely protective of their nests when they have offspring. I had to put the umbrella up to fend the bloody thing off. Made playing my shot a hazardous experience. Thing is I didn’t realise that one of my 14 clubs needed a trigger and 2 barrels.

A nasty pest.
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cows4me (248) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 10:50 am
Heaps of those squawking Ozzie buggers around here. The bloody things are lunatics, they nest in the middle of paddocks, chase the shit out of other birds, really go nuts in a full moon and the bastards are as cunning as shit house rats. They know what a gun is to.
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Paulus (1,755) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Watch them in the mating season, and when they have young around – you, like me, can get seriously bombed – they are vicious.
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OTGO (365) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Has anyone heard an Ozzie bird that didn’t squawk? Seriously I can’t remember thinking whilst in Australia, “that bird has a nice song” like I do when I hear a tui or a bellbird.
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St Hubbins (25) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
These bastards have decided to make our golf course their home. I hate them.
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Don the Kiwi (984) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
When I lived in NSW they were called “spur-winged plovers”. They gave the kids a hard time coming home from school. I told them to take a pice of No. 8 wire about 900mm long, like I used to do when I spent a year in central NSW when I was 16 – used it for snakes and magpies in season, and plovers most of the time. Whack them with the No.8 and they don’t like it – they’re either dead, or know not to mess with you.

When I returned from Oz in 1988 with my family, I noticed them in the fields out the back of my house at Welcome Bay in Tauranga – the kids already knew how to handle them – there were no plovers here when we left for Oz in 1978, so they invaded pretty quickly.

Hawks and falcons sort them out., but they will gang up on a hawk and chase it away, so they’re bloody feisty birds.
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cha (2,403) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
A pilot mate reckons every other bird who likes basking in the heat of the tarmac has the nous to GTFO of the way of approaching aircraft but not these stupid fuckers.
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graham (1,916) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Thanks Australia, you bastards …
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Chthoniid (1,921) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Yep, they’re not a bird I regard with affection (in NZ anyway). I just thought it was a good pic of one

The risk they pose to aircraft was one of the reason DoC was considering changing their status to ‘pest’, not sure what came of that. Their aggression is pretty full on- I’ve seen them chase away harrier hawks around here too.
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graham (1,916) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Agreed, great picture Chthoniid!

Do you have any good pictures of hawks on the way for our enjoyment? I see quite a few hawks feasting off the good old roadkill around our way and swooping around during lambing . They definitely have an attitude …
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Chthoniid (1,921) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
I’ve got some what I call ‘record’ shots (it’s just a record that I saw it) of hawks Graham. But they’re not good enough to display. I have a vague plan to get some fresh roadkill and use that to lure a bird in so it’s close enough to get some good shots. But that’s going to take a bit of prep work & identifying the range some of the local birds occupy.
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Elaycee (3,535) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
“This recent Australian….. …somewhat aggressive bird with a harsh call.”

For a minute I thought that Julia Gillard was in town….
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Johnboy (11,276) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Isn’t one of of the noisy, useless turds Co-Leader of our Greenie Party?
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adze (1,463) Says:
May 25th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
How are they around Magpies?
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