Just before we were all locked down, I paid a visit to Elmley Marshes nature reserve to photograph the lapwings in their courting displays.

Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus)—also known as peewits from their display calls—are lovely birds of the plover family, now sadly much declined the UK. Fortunately, here in Kent, they can still often be seen on farmland, and two of our local reserves, at Elmley and Oare, have regular populations of them.

Their elaborate and dynamic courting displays have caught the imaginations of many naturalists: among others in the early 20th Century RH Brown described them in detail, and this account is still a good read. The males hurl themselves into elaborate high-speed aerial acrobatics, tumbling in seemingly reckless abandon, sometimes even going inverted in flight, swooping fast and low only just missing the ground, before climbing back into the sky. While their suitors whirl overhead, the females sit on the ground, sometimes tilting forward to display a chestnut-colored rump.

Unfortunately, the day I was there the light was miserable and the sky was a bright grey, less than ideal for photography. Nonetheless, I was delighted to be able to photograph them at all. The pictures here were all taken handheld from the car window on the track through the reserve. They move so fast and unpredictably, it took me a while to get my eye in, and be able to keep up them in the viewfinder. I was using the D500 and 500PF lens, with an effective focal length of 750mm in 35mm terms: trying to keep up with the whirling birds was a serious challenge. Nevertheless, the D500/500PF combination is simply outstanding for birds in flight: focus pickup was fast, and tracking was excellent. I was using my usual group area AF in AF-C, with back button focus.

I had planned to go back a few days later on a day with better skies, but the lockdown happened before I could do so. Oh well—with luck, they (and I) will be there next year.