On Thursday 26th August 2021 an adult White-tailed Lapwing (Plover) was discovered by the assistant warden at the RSPB reserve at Blacktoft Sands in Yorkshire. This was the 8th record for Britain and a first record for Yorkshire of this species which breeds in southern Russia and west to Iraq and Iran. The Iraq and Iran birds tend to be resident but the Russian population migrates south to winter in India, the Middle East and North East Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to Europe, with the first British record in 1975 at Packington in Warwickshire.
A very distinctive wader with long yellow legs and a fairly long bill. Brown back, a pale face and grey breast, but much more spectacular when in flight or opening its wings to reveal the unmistakeable brown, black and white plumage and white tail which gives the bird its name.
