The Amazing Journey

Further to the news that more than 400 Sociable Lapwings had been found at a stopover site in Uzbekistan in mid September, news has now reached us that at least some birds migrating along this ‘Eastern Flyway’ have reached the Indian Sub-continent.

Birders following The Amazing Journey have sent us several recent reports confirming that Sociable Lapwings are now on the move again and have started their long migrations back from their wintering grounds.

Last September, four Sociable Lapwings left Kazakhstan to begin their migrations fitted with working satellite transmitters but shortly afterwards we unfortunately stopped receiving any transmissions. We are however, pleased to now be able to report on a number of sightings we have recently received that confirm the presence of Sociable Lapwings in most of their regular wintering areas.

BirdLife International scientists monitoring migrating Sociable Lapwings in the heart of the Great Steppe have recently discovered the largest single flock seen in Kazakhstan since 1939.

Exciting news has just reached us that a country record flock of 90+ Sociable Lapwings was present at Salalah in Oman on Christmas Day, 2010.

Jamie Buchan has kindly sent us details of three Sociable Lapwings seen in Qatar on the 27th November, following on from the two sighted south-west of Doha on November 18th (again reported by Jamie). The three birds were seen at Arakhiya Farm, 30-kilometres south west of Doha, and were apparently associating with Northern Lapwings. The [...]

Two new eye-witness reports we have just received confirm Sociable Lapwings are now passing further south through the Middle East and have arrived in The Gulf.

In addition to providing important new sightings records, Birders’ contributions to The Amazing Journey website are also providing extremely valuable information about Sociable Lapwing behaviour and habitat association. These are an important aid to conservation planning.

If you have seen a Sociable Lapwing anywhere in the world we would like to add your sightings to our distribution database. You can submit a report here.