Fifty years ago, wandering across the lightly tilled agricultural land of rural Hampshire, a lapwing circling across the vista would have been a typical site in early Spring. Nowadays it is somewhat rarer but no less spectacular. 

Lapwings are ground nesting birds found across much of the UK. In Hampshire, your best bet of seeing a lapwing is at the coast, especially at a grazing marsh site like Farlington Marshes. These are birds of wide-open spaces, liking nothing better than a view of the surrounding area, unhindered by scrub and trees, allowing predators to be quickly identified. 

On a sunny late February day, you will see them enacting aerial displays and summersaults accompanied by their unique call. Territories are formed where males vigorously attack any intruder 

Come the end of March, things are generally settled down and into April, you will see nests appearing. A female may be huddled down on three to four eggs. This is the most vulnerable stage for the young. Crows or buzzards are but a few birds that will take all the eggs within an afternoon. Foxes, badgers and even the cuddly hedgehog will make short work of the nest, so they are up against it. 

That is not to say that they are helpless. Lapwings are some of the bravest parents going. Any sign of an intruder, they will take to the air and bombard the wannabe egg thief mercilessly until it is deterred. The more lapwings there are with nests in the vicinity, the more likely it is that they will successfully see off a predator. 

At the end of April and into May, the first chicks will arrive. These little fluff balls are immediately able to feed for themselves so the parents will take them to wet areas where they pick invertebrates off the surface of the mud. In these first few weeks of mobility, they are particularly vulnerable to avian predators. A crow flying over will exact a very specific alarm call from the adult. At this sound, the chicks will bolt for cover, whether that is a patch of rush or a hoof print in the mud, they are well camouflaged and if quick, may avoid detection. 

Roughly four weeks later, the chicks will be taking flight and we breathe a sigh of relief as a few lucky birds make it to adulthood, hopefully returning in a few years to raise some young for themselves.