Hi Folks, I would like to suggest several possible factors which MIGHT have helped the lapwing votes.... 1. Dennis Varza's good point about all of the transAtlantic visitors which we get... "The European Vagrants are another matter. The prevailing winds are west to east so Europe get more American birds then we get theirs. I suspect the weather condition to make a flight form east to west feasible are rather rare, and the birds must be present in migration to be caught up in it, making it even more unlikely. Also, the trip is over water. All these taken together make the presence of European birds quite remarkable. Some species include Lapwing, Corn Crake, Fieldfare, Redwing etc. So, based on these criteria I thought the Lapwing was the more remarkable record. For the same reasons I also thought the Black Guillemot should be ranked higher." 2. Our Connecticut lapwing was one part of a larger (and therefore more uncommon, historical) movement of multiple lapwings into North America this autumn, so some votes may have been for our lapwing as the first real "signal" of the beginning of that movement (the Quebec lapwing which arrived one day earlier was reported in French and generally unknown in the USA). 3. Additionally, our lapwing was part of the group/movement that led to the January 2, 2011 CBC record in Ferryland, Newfoundland.... only the 3rd Canadian CBC and the 8th CBC ever for Northern Lapwing (and half of those 8 were on the British or French islands of Bermuda, Tortola BVI, and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon Islands ! details at.. Lapwings 2010<http://lapwings2010.blogspot.com/>). Although lapwings are common in UK/Europe, they are among the rarest of birds on north american Christmas Bird Counts. 4. There is a UK/European side to the 2010 extreme lapwing movements, and Dennis Elphick in Devon UK is piecing that side of the story together currently. Some voters may have been aware of that work. 5. There is still at least one lapwing being seen in Newfoundland this week, so it is REMOTELY possible that we might have one or two here (in north america) in Spring, in time for a possible first-ever breeding record on this continent!! Very unlikely, but who knows. In other words, our lapwing story which began in CT might not be over yet! (-: Tom Robben Glastonbury CT