Friday 23 January
Nigel and Cathy did the morning’s recce at Sailing Club Bay and were met by large numbers of birds (inc. Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit and Knot). The tide, however, didn’t prove high enough to cover the mud and move the birds into a catchable position, and since no other opportunities were identified, the decision was taken to dedicate Saturday morning’s high tide to resighting and recceing with the full team. Following everyone’s arrival in the evening (Claudia having been delayed by a flamingo), a jacket potato dinner was served, and plans were made for the morning.
Saturday 24 January
The team were up early Saturday morning to reach recce spots two hours before high tide. The following sites were to be covered: Hunstanton (Katharine, Alex, Tanya), Heacham NN (Claudia, Hillary, Pedro), Heacham S & Snettisham (Liam, David), Sailing Club Bay (Nigel, Harriet, Oliver), Freiston & Frampton (Cathy, Richard), Terrington fields (Rob Rob), and east-shore inland fields (Molly, Shannon, Ed).
Recce/Resighting results were as follows:
- Hunstanton – 15 Turnstone of the ~40 present along the beach. No catching opportunity identified.
- Heacham NN – ~50 Curlew present on first arrival, though these easily disturbed and gradually all departed. No catching opportunity identified.
- Heacham S – ~80 curlew, some rings read. They were eventually disturbed by a walker and then gradually dispersed. ~100 sanderling were also present. No catching opportunity identified.
- Sailing Club Bay – large numbers of birds again and read a good number of Bar-tailed Godwit flags. As with Friday morning though, the tide wasn’t high enough to cover the mud, and no catching opportunity presented itself.
- Freiston / Frampton – no ring reads and no catching opportunity identified.
- Team inland fields – two small flocks of Curlew near Fring, none with rings to read.
- Terrington fields – Rob Rob had a flock of Curlew and got a ring read from one bird
With no opportunities identified, it was decided that Sunday morning’s tide would be dedicated to resighting too. The teams all returned in time for a midday breakfast, after which attention was turned to the evening’s mist-netting activities.
Terrington Outer Pool was the chosen venue for the evening, with the setting team heading out onto the marsh at 15:00 hrs. Two lines of five nets were set across the pool facing into the forecast south-easterly wind. The intention was for the nets to be parallel but were slightly more asymmetrical, converging towards the seaward side of the pool. Molly elected to stay with the nets while the rest of the team headed back for supper, before rejoining at 18:00 hrs.
A group of six headed out with the lures around 18:30 hrs, while the rest of the team remained at the barn. It was quickly realised that the team were in place three and a half hours ahead of the high tide and therefore had a lot of time to kill. The barn team spent the time doing crosswords, getting Fly to perform tricks, and digging through old Barn Owl pellets for rodent remains, while the marsh team spent the time exchanging ringing stories. During this wait, it became clear that the wind was building beyond the forecast and was not ideal.
The first bird to go in at ~19:00 hrs was an unexpected drake Mallard, followed soon after by a single Dunlin. These birds were brought back for processing, after which more people from the barn headed out onto the marsh. The birds started arriving in higher numbers at ~20:00 hrs and continued up until the high tide. The wind strength likely contributed to a smaller catch in the end, though the species were varied and included a 15-year-old Turnstone; three Bar-tailed Godwits were tagged to track their movements.
The team returned to base in the early hours and, given the success of Saturday’s resighting, were given the option of a lay-in or more resighting in the morning, with most opting for the former.
Sunday 25 January
From those that chose to do more resighting, teams were sent to Sailing Club Bay (Liam, Hillary) and Terrington fields (Harriet, Claudia). The rest of the team began the gradual pack-away of the trailer and tidy up of the house, along with making breakfast for the remaining team.
Resighting results for the morning were as follows:
- Sailing Club Bay – once again, large numbers of birds and lots of rings read
- Terrington fields – one flock of curlew found and two flags read
Colour-mark resighting totals
| Species | Total Sightings | Individuals | Non-WWRG |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | 88 | 53 | 0 |
| Curlew | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Turnstone | 16 | 15 | 0 |
| Total | 111 | 74 | 0 |
Notes: one of the group’s best efforts for Bar-tailed Godwit resighting this weekend!
Trip ringing totals (all from mist netting on the Terrington Outer Pool)
| Species | New | Retrap | Total |
| Dunlin | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Grey Plover | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Knot | 41 | 0 | 41 |
| Oystercatcher | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Turnstone | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Mallard | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 89 | 6 | 95 |
Thanks to Oliver Sayle for writing this report. Cover photo by Cathy Ryden.