With winter coming, northern lapwings were heading south, leaving home in Scandinavia and the British Isles for the warm African coast. But in fleeing the cold, the colorful plovers flew into something far worse.

Swept up by Hurricane Sandy, the migratory birds were cast out to sea and carried across the Atlantic before a lucky few landed, against long odds, on the East Coast. In Sandy’s wake, at least five storm-tossed lapwings have been spotted in Massachusetts, delighting birdwatchers who say the implausible arrival is nearly without precedent.