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.
Despite it being his birthday, Ema had cooked dinner for us all. Celebrating with him, we all enjoyed this together before an (admittedly haphazard) evening briefing. There was lots of equipment to sort tomorrow, food to buy and surveys to crack on with, and so with plans more-or-less settled, the sleepy team hit the hay.
Sunday 11 May
With great enthusiasm, we sprang into action in the morning of our first full day. Richard and a team went to Sam’s Club to gather food supplies, Jacquie and Cathy sorted the processing boxes, and our first boat survey in Mispillion Harbour was completed. Nick and Michèle, who are joining us on the project for the first time this year, had a wonderful first time on the water and quickly jumped into the joy of Mispillion shorebird resighting with great enthusiasm. Throughout the morning and afternoon, boat trips gathered a good number of resightings for the first project day.
A catching option, noted the night before on Back North, was monitored through the day by Nigel, Richard and Ryan, and by the time the evening briefing came about, a plan was in place for the following morning. This season we are aiming to catch and flag Short-billed Dowitcher whilst they are present in the Bay early in the month, the first time this species is a priority for the Project. Just like the Red Knot, there is evidence that the Dowitcher population is declining, and our work here provides an opportunity to study these shorter-distance migrants and hopefully get a better understanding of their movements. Nigel got together a group to start reviving some old walk-in traps which we will use to catch some extra Dowitcher on the beaches and in the marshes. In preparation for a season of catching, the team had worked hard on opening rings and sorting catching equipment today. Ryan and Lys made dinner and there was a little celebration for Flo’s 21st birthday. Project lead Kat Christie and Volunteer Coordinator Jessie McNulty joined us in the evening along with Dave Carter, and it was wonderful to have the whole team together, buzzing with anticipation for the potential catch in the morning and happy after a productive first day back on the shores.
Monday 12 May
By 05:30, the team was up, breakfasting, loading cannons and shifting equipment from the storage trailer into the truck to go to the marina. A small team took a net set in the Jon Boat and chugged off to Back North to get this into place, and others, with the rest of the gear loaded into the Skiff, set off from the Boat Launch, both in the water by 06:30. Despite our keen and efficient start, the flocks were very unsettled and it wasn’t until a net reset with the help of base camp and several hours of wating for water to encourage the shorebirds into position that it was looking like any real possibility of making a catch.
At 11:10 a flock of Dowitcher settled, a window appeared, and a falling tide wet catch was made. The team (bolstered by a second Skiff-load of volunteers), jumped into action, rapidly lifting (tenting) and extracting. A few gulls had been caught, but these were swiftly and carefully removed so we could focus on the shorebirds. Jacquie discovered how busy it is when the boxes are brought back to the keeping cages – Graham is much missed. We caught 267 birds, including four Red Knot, 31 Ruddy Turnstone, 188 Short-billed Dowitcher, one Semipalmated Sandpiper and 43 Dunlin. This was an excellent catch of Dowitcher, especially for an early catch, and we successfully flagged the whole sample. Three of the Turnstone were fitted with glue mount tags by Katharine; this early season tagging is ideal as it will reveal how the Turnstone use the Bay (for foraging and roosting) before they travel north. A researcher from USGS joined us on this catch to take blood samples from some of the Turnstone, including the tagged birds. This study focuses on avian influenza, contributing to an investigation of how the movement of wild birds is affected by the virus.
Once all birds were processed and all equipment gathered, we bobbed back out of the harbour on the boats and made it back to base. The last surveys of the three-day survey period were completed and the team got straight to writing up data. A relaxed, contented evening followed, involving rugby on the porch and a delicious pasta bake made by Katharine. The following day had a looming rainy forecast and so only vague plans were made. A great start to the season.
Tuesday 13 May
The day began with a speedy Mispillion survey and an hour or so of resighting before escaping the oncoming rainclouds. A more-or-less inside day as a result of the weather meant that ring opening, data entry and keeping cage fixing was undertaken. Very productive!
Nigel recced the Harbour and found a flock of some 4,000 Short-billed Dowitcher on Mid South. However, several changes to where the birds were positioned throughout the day led to a complicated evening briefing with much discussion before a catching plan was solidified. However, the birds were later seen on Back East, and so the catching location was shifted to this site. Nigel had come up with an ingenious idea that involved nestling the net in some guttering on the rock wall. This would allow the net to be fired from a raised position over the birds which had been seen feeding all the way up to the rock wall. What was certain was that it was going to be an exciting day…
Wednesday 14 May
Cannon netting in Mispillion Harbour was not planned until the afternoon and so, with the morning rainy again, we did boat surveys, extra recces, and data sorting back at the house. Those out on beach surveys along the Bay had to wait in their cars before beginning, hoping for the showers to pass. Jessie spotted one of the newly-tagged Turnstone in the harbour, with lime flag N32. Hopefully it won’t be long before we start to get some interesting movement data from this and the other tagged birds! Nick and Kirsten joined Kat and Jessie at Cape Henlopen in the morning to survey some nesting Piping Plover in the dunes and had success with nest finding.
After lunch at the house, the team set to work loading the catching kit into the truck to take to the Nature Centre where we planned to process. The setting team took the Jon boat out and successfully tucked the net into the drainpipe on the rock wall. But, as soon as the net was set and a skiff load of team had arrived on the beach with keeping boxes, we found that the flocks were not feeding as high up the beach as previously seen. A quick reset closer to the tide line on Back East and within the hour we fired! The total catch was 398 birds, including 28 Ruddy Turnstone, 293 Short-billed Dowitcher, 14 Semipalmated Sandpiper one Sanderling and 62 Dunlin. Then followed a very slick operation indeed.
There was a small lift, a speedy extraction and a brilliantly executed transportation of the birds, safely in keeping boxes, across the harbour on the Skiff to the Nature Centre where a train of people, poised for action, efficiently ferried the birds onto shore and over to the keeping cages. Processing soon commenced and several well-oiled teams of flaggers got through the brilliant sample of Dowitcher in seemingly no time at all. We initially had a shade cloth above basecamp due to the beating heat, but the skies became overcast, and an unseasonally chilly breeze began to rattle through. Rumbles of thunder were heard close at hand, which concentrated minds, but thankfully the storm avoided us.
Ryan and Kat set off early to cook a delicious veggie pasta which was greatly appreciated by the tired team.
Thursday 15 May
A small team deployed several walk-in traps at the shore of Lighthouse Road over the morning, and they had success! 12 Short-billed Dowitcher were caught, along with one Ruddy Turnstone, which was blood-sampled and tagged – a worthwhile snippet of extra catching. The rest of the team had a relatively calm morning of Piping Plover work and various beach surveys, however, this was followed by a torrential downpour in the afternoon. Those resighting in Mispillion Harbour embraced the shorebird lifestyle and rallied through the wet weather… until they started to shiver. Their effort was rewarded with a good number of Short-billed Dowitcher resightings. We have been finding that these birds are an absolute joy to resight thanks to their slightly slower, gentler nature and loftier stature than the endlessly busy peeps and Turnstone.
Back at base, much progress was made with the data entry. In fact, we have managed to figure out a way to allow long-distance data inputting, enabling Graham to contribute to the Project’s work from afar. There is no escape! Kirsten made the team tasty potato and vegetable frittatas for dinner, and eventually the evening boat team came in, not wanting to leave the beautiful sunset and bountiful resightings in the Harbour. Ryan led the evening briefing, explaining plans for a straightforward catch at Swains in the morning, aiming to catch some more Ruddy Turnstone and show the wonderful work we do to the Secretary of State who was due to visit.
Friday 16 May
The morning’s catch went precisely as planned, and the total catch of 134 birds included a good sample of 105 Ruddy Turnstone, alongside 24 Short-billed Dowitcher, four Dunlin and one Least Sandpiper. With predictions of yet more rain, we rigged up a shelter around the house and processed the birds under the decking. All Turnstone and Dowitcher were flagged as usual, and an exciting discovery was a retrap Turnstone who turned out to be one of the birds to which we attached GPS trackers last year! There was no sign of where the tag had been attached, and the bird looked fit and healthy. So wonderful to encounter it again.
Despite working hard all morning on the catch, the team continued with surveys and data inputting and checking throughout the afternoon, and Nigel made some more walk-in traps. Chantal and Katharine created a beautifully spicy Thai Green Curry in the evening, and after several extreme weather warnings, Slaughter Beach was met by a brooding, Delaware storm. Deep slate clouds rumbled steadily towards us from the south, the sky turned all shades of pink and orange, and rainbows glimmered through the blue. All through the night the lightening continued, scarring the black ocean with dazzling flashes.
Saturday 17 May
Nigel led a small team to attempt to catch Short-billed Dowitcher and Ruddy Turnstone on Swains and Lighthouse Road using walk-in traps throughout the morning. Unfortunately, despite several attempts at resetting the traps in different positions, we failed to catch a single bird all morning. On the positive side, the afternoon gained an excellent load of resighting data from the Harbour. The weather was intensely humid and the no-see-ums certainly took advantage of the lack of breeze to eat as much of us as they could while we were gathering data on the beaches.
Sadly, Kirsten had to leave us today and set off home to Alaska. We will miss her greatly over the next two weeks. In the evening, Guy arrived, and it is so super to have him back with the team again. Lys cooked a fantastic veggie chilli with roasted vegetables, and we enjoyed a happy evening, a full team of Brits at last!
Thanks to Flo Turner for writing this report. Cover image by Nick Shaw.