Cricketers at a Tasmanian oval are fielding around a plover's nest
Ground staff at Windsor Park in Riverside mow around a masked lapwing sitting on eggs in the middle of the pitch, and the players have learned to give her room.
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A masked lapwing is incubating eggs in the middle of Windsor Park, a community cricket ground in Riverside, just outside Launceston, and the match goes on around her. The Guardian reported on October 18, 2026, that locals nicknamed the bird Faf Swoop Plessis. Because the species is protected in Tasmania, ground staff mow around the nest, and fielders are told to keep their distance.
Great Northern Raiders player Caleb Brewer spent part of an early-season match stationed beside the nest and told The Examiner the bird settled once the game was underway. The next weekend, Riverside opener Josh Partridge fielded nearby and said it felt as if the plover knew a match was happening and had no interest in interrupting it.
Mark Holdsworth of BirdLife Tasmania said lapwings often learn the habits of people who use a site, and people learn to leave the core of the nest alone. Sean Dooley of BirdLife Australia said an open oval gives the birds a clear view of danger, which is why a sports ground can make sense to them even when it looks odd to us. The eggs hatch after about 28 to 30 days of shared incubation, and the chicks leave the nest soon after. West Tamar mayor Christina Holmdahl said council crews meet at least 10 lapwing nests a year across the municipality's parks and ovals and keep a buffer around each one.
For the classroom
The Guardian reported on October 18, 2026, that a masked lapwing, a bird many Australians call a plover, is sitting on eggs in the middle of a community cricket ground at Windsor Park in Riverside, Tasmania. The bird is protected, so the people who mow the oval mow around the nest, and the players try not to bother it. One fielder said the bird seemed to understand a game was going on. These birds like open grass because they can see danger coming. The eggs take about 28 to 30 days to hatch, and then the chicks walk off the nest. Giving the family space is the help they need.
- Why might an open sports field feel safer to a nesting bird than a patch of tall grass?
- What could a team do so a game can continue without scaring a bird off its eggs?
- What is one bird that nests near people where you live, and how do neighbors make room for it?
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