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The lapwing's display flight is one of the most theatrical things British wildlife offers. The bird — iridescent green above, white below, with a long wispy crest — rises from the meadow, climbs steeply, then tips sideways and tumbles, rolling and twisting in the air with a sound that gives it one of its common names: the peewit, a call that follows every roll and tumble in the display.
This flight, seen above the hay meadows of Swaledale or Wensleydale on an April morning, is one of the defining experiences of a Dales spring. It is also, increasingly, a privilege — the lapwing population in England has declined by over 50% since 1980.
Lapwings breed in open grassland and agricultural land from March to July, nesting in shallow scrapes on the ground. They are highly sensitive to changes in agricultural practice. Spring tillage — ploughing and drilling of spring crops — once provided the bare ground lapwings prefer for nesting. The shift to autumn tillage has removed this habitat from lowland England almost entirely.
In the uplands, drainage of wet pasture has reduced the soft, invertebrate-rich ground that lapwing chicks depend on. Increased predator populations — fox, crow, stoat — take a higher proportion of eggs and chicks than in the past. The result is a species that was once abundant and is now under serious conservation concern.
The Yorkshire Dales hold one of the largest upland lapwing populations in England. The traditional hay meadows and unimproved pasture of Swaledale, Wensleydale and Wharfedale provide the wet, tussocky ground that lapwings need, and the farming management — cutting hay late, light grazing in spring — inadvertently protects nesting birds.
Conservation work on some Dales farms, including nest protection (wire exclosures around nest scrapes in high-traffic fields), predator management and water level management, has produced local improvements. But the overall population trajectory remains downward.
Lapwings are present in the Dales from February to August. Display flights are most spectacular in April and May above the meadow and moorland fringe habitats. Swaledale between Muker and Keld, and Wensleydale between Hawes and Bainbridge, are reliable locations in the breeding season.
After breeding, lapwings gather in flocks on lower ground and move to coastal areas for winter. Small flocks in the Dales in August are often birds gathering before their southward movement.
Spring and early summer are the best times for Dales upland wildlife. Contact us to discuss a bespoke Dales tour in the breeding season.