Włodzimierz Meissner, Arkadiusz Sikora, Sebastian Guentzel, Jacek Antczak
Ornis Polonica 2011, 52: 26–39
https://doi.org/10.12657/ornis.2011.1.1
Abstract: The paper describes the trends in numbers of wintering Lapwings and Golden Plovers in Poland during two recent decades. In total, 197 records involving 19,351 Lapwings and 122 records involving 15,749 Golden Plovers were obtained (using only peak numbers from a given site and season, respective numbers dropped to 94 records of 12,804 Lapwings and 67 records of 11,656 Golden Plovers). Both species were traditionally considered rare during winter, and the numbers were rather stable until 2006. However, a clear increase was evident since 2007, and this was most likely not related to increasing observers’ activity. At the level of the whole country, numbers of both species appeared unrelated to mean winter temperatures, but during winters of 2000/01 to 2007/08 the number of wintering Lapwings was positively correlated with average December and January temperature in north-western Poland. Both species were more numerous in western Poland during winter, while records from the eastern part of the country were scarce. Flocks up to 50 birds were most frequent (61% and 58% of all records of Lapwing and Golden Plover, respectively), while biggest flocks accounted for 1,000 Lapwings and 1,200 Golden Plovers. Lapwings most frequently wintered at the bottom of fish ponds, reservoirs and meadows, while Golden Plovers were found at fish ponds and plowed fields in the majority of cases.
