Category: Research

Black-tailed Godwit

29 and counting

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On the evening of 8 November 2025, WWRG caught 20 Black-tailed Godwits while mist netting at Terrington. One of them was a very special, colour-ringed bird that sets the BTO longevity record every time it is seen.

Metal ring EP85107 was added to a juvenile Black-tailed Godwit on 30 August 1996, in a cannon-net catch at Holbeach, Lincolnshire. It was the first godwit to arrive at the processing team and Jenny Gill added a set of white and green colour rings, turning it into W-GW/W. Jenny was just starting a post-doctoral project at the University of East Anglia to investigate how the expanding population of godwits was spreading into new sites, and needed to be able to recognise individuals. Over sixty birds were colour ringed on that day. Subsequently, there were winter sightings from Ireland, France and Portugal but many of these colour-ringed individuals were found on the estuaries of East and South England, which is where Jenny’s field studies were to be based.

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Delaware 2025: 24-31 May

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Saturday 24 May

Our final week on the shores of Delaware Bay began slowly with a relaxed morning of resighting on Slaughter Beach before a 10:00 hrs team went to set a net on Point North. How very leisurely! A Skiff team got into position offshore, ready for action. It was Memorial Day, and so there was a crowd of visitors watching from the Nature Centre deck. Ryan and Cathy chatted to them about the Project and explained what was going on as the catch unfolded. Unfortunately, cable connection problems and then too many birds in the catching area caused a bit of a delay. Once the net was tested successfully, Chantal was sent to shuffle down the rock wall, pushing many of the Semipalmated Sandpiper out of the catching area. With a safe number of birds catchable, the net was fired and the Skiff team raced to shore to join the firing team to cover the catch and begin extraction. The total catch was 397 birds, consisting of two Red Knot, 18 Ruddy Turnstone, 152 Short-billed Dowitcher, 141 Semipalmated Sandpiper and 84 Dunlin. After ferrying the birds to Swains Beach, we processed under shade, and with extra help from several Project volunteers we were finished in good time to fit in some more resighting in the Harbor during the afternoon. We have made an incredible effort on flagging Dowitcher this season, just the start to a new project that we needed. In the afternoon, Lys made a great tagine for dinner.

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Delaware 2025: 18-23 May

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Sunday 18 May

A wonderful start to our second week in Delaware Bay, we spent the evening at Dave’s for the annual BBQ he holds for the Shorebird Project. Before we could relax however, the morning was spent filling empty cartridges, finishing up a few last beach surveys for the period and of course cranking through the data entry and checking. Nigel also did a bit of a recce for some more walk-in trapping around Mispillion Harbour. With only partial success in our first week, we planned to make a big effort with walk-ins this week, there being lots of potential with the number of Dowitcher seen about the shores, and amongst the phragmites and marshes.

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A team of people standing in a line leading from a small boat to the shore. They are passing boxes along the line to empty the boat quickly. The boat is moored against a rocky shoreline. Numerous wooden poles are sticking out of the water behind the boat.

Delaware 2025: 10–17 May – Dowitcher City

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Saturday 10 May

After a long journey over the ocean from London to Philadelphia, and a familiar drive down to the team’s base on Slaughter Beach, the Brits made it safely to Delaware Bay for the start of another exciting season on the Delaware Shorebird Project. Kirsten Grond had joined us at the airport and both Jim Lyons and Ema Tiberi were at the house to welcome us warmly home. The traditional evening visit to Mispillion Harbour produced beautiful views of Common Scoter bobbing on the water, Short-billed Dowitchers probing and singing along the shores, and an Osprey elegantly gliding over the pink, sun-stained water.

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Record-breaking Oystercatchers caught on The Wash

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The core of our research work on The Wash is monitoring the birds that rely on its mudflats and surrounding habitats. We started catching and ringing waders 70 years ago, when we were simply trying to work out their migration routes and breeding grounds. Now we still aim to catch our study species regularly and continue to learn about migration, but we also check the ‘health’ of the population: are they putting on enough weight for the winter or have they completed their moult on time? How do they move around The Wash? Our regular catches help us to answer these questions, as well as allowing us to keep track of the survival rates of a range of species.

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