Masked Lapwings, commonly referred to as Plovers, I took and edited these in September last year. I was lucky enough to find a breeding pair only meters from a carpark on the Domain where I could easily and safely get nice close shots. Plovers will dive bomb to protect their turf and as you will see, have some serious weapons.
They remained unpublished as there was more photos in the series to edit ..
And in October …
Olympus / OM System OM-1, Olympus 75-300 f4.8-6.7 II ED MSC lens.
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TasView 
I’ve never seen this bird before!
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Hi John, the Masked Lapwing is native to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. They are a protected species in Tasmania, though the appear quite common across the island.
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It’s nice that the specie is protected.
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Very unique birds!
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They are also quite fearless with those spurs and will attack by dive bombing if they feel threatened, especially with chicks about. One of them will usually wander off squawking to lure you away from the chicks first.
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Smart too.
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A very unusual bird! Those claws on the wings look scary. The little chick is cute. 🙂
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Thanks Morgaine, they are intriguing and fun to watch, but you do need to be careful that they don’t dive bomb you especially with chicks about, they can be quite aggressive and pretty fearless!
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Lovely set, great shots!
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Thanks, it’s usually quite difficult to get so close to them as they are very protective and often aggressive, especially with chicks about!
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Great photos. I have memories of being swooped by plovers in the footy oval behind the tiny bush school I attended in NSW. But I think some of the kids did tease them which was not nice. Interesting birds.
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Thanks, I have similar memories, plovers were never my friend, but they always intrigued me.
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