Kievit’s eggs were an expensive delicacy in Victorian Europe, mentioned in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, about aristocratic British society in 1920–40. In the Netherlands, there is a historical competition to find the first kievit egg of the year (het eerste kievietsei). It is especially popular in the province Friesland. Gathering peewit eggs is prohibited by the European Union, but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural-historical reasons.
The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a regional Dutch court, which determined that the Frisian executive councillors had not properly followed defined procedure. As of 2006 looking for peewit eggs is permitted between 1 March and 9 April, though harvesting the eggs is now forbidden. In 2008 the first egg was found on 3 March, in Eemnes, Utrecht, and the first egg of 2009 was found on 8 March in Krabbendijke.
Over the last century, the first kievit egg has been found earlier and earlier in the year. This is ascribed to both increased use of fertiliser and climate change, causing the growth of grass needed for egg laying to occur earlier. The northern lapwing was declared the Republic of Ireland’s national bird by a committee of the Irish Wildlife Conservancy in 1990. In the Irish language it is called “little Philip”, supposedly a reference to Philip II.
Kievit’s eggs were an expensive delicacy in Victorian Europe, mentioned in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, about aristocratic British society in 1920–40. In the Netherlands, there is a historical competition to find the first kievit egg of the year (het eerste kievietsei). It is especially popular in the province Friesland. Gathering peewit eggs is prohibited by the European Union, but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural-historical reasons.
The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a regional Dutch court, which determined that the Frisian executive councillors had not properly followed defined procedure. As of 2006 looking for peewit eggs is permitted between 1 March and 9 April, though harvesting the eggs is now forbidden. In 2008 the first egg was found on 3 March, in Eemnes, Utrecht, and the first egg of 2009 was found on 8 March in Krabbendijke.
Over the last century, the first kievit egg has been found earlier and earlier in the year. This is ascribed to both increased use of fertiliser and climate change, causing the growth of grass needed for egg laying to occur earlier. The northern lapwing was declared the Republic of Ireland’s national bird by a committee of the Irish Wildlife Conservancy in 1990. In the Irish language it is called “little Philip”, supposedly a reference to Philip II.
Kievit’s eggs were an expensive delicacy in Victorian Europe, mentioned in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, about aristocratic British society in 1920–40. In the Netherlands, there is a historical competition to find the first kievit egg of the year (het eerste kievietsei). It is especially popular in the province Friesland. Gathering peewit eggs is prohibited by the European Union, but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural-historical reasons.
The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a regional Dutch court, which determined that the Frisian executive councillors had not properly followed defined procedure. As of 2006 looking for peewit eggs is permitted between 1 March and 9 April, though harvesting the eggs is now forbidden. In 2008 the first egg was found on 3 March, in Eemnes, Utrecht, and the first egg of 2009 was found on 8 March in Krabbendijke.
Over the last century, the first kievit egg has been found earlier and earlier in the year. This is ascribed to both increased use of fertiliser and climate change, causing the growth of grass needed for egg laying to occur earlier. The northern lapwing was declared the Republic of Ireland’s national bird by a committee of the Irish Wildlife Conservancy in 1990. In the Irish language it is called “little Philip”, supposedly a reference to Philip II.