6 February 2026
The team assembled on Friday evening. There was no option for cannon netting this weekend, but a suitable Saturday night tide for mist netting. The tides suitable for cannon netting in the second half of winter are not as conducive to mist netting, so running an extra couple of sessions at this time of year was deemed worthwhile to improve the sampling of waders via mist netting. Additional valuable winter sightings of colour-marked waders were also sought after this weekend.
7 February 2026
Ed and Nick had an early start in order to recce a potential Oystercatcher catch option for the subsequent fortnight’s cannon-netting attempt (however this would ultimately not be an option that was attempted). An early morning flock of over 4,000 Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit opposite the Snettisham sea defences moved away at 07:30 hrs with birds just out of range for flag reading. They were subsequently joined by Rob at 09:00 hrs when the residual flock of 80 Oystercatcher left to go the Pits, numbers having peaked at around 1,100 earlier in the morning. A remnant of 40 birds on the spit opposite the sailing club were then flushed by a dog walker.
The Snettisham / Wolferton intertidal contained a flock of 2,500 Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, 60 Avocet and 490 Curlew. A total of four Bar-tailed Godwit flags were read, but frustratingly the flock were just a little too far out to record. In a similarly frustrating manner, at least three incomplete Black-tailed Godwit combinations were seen. The number of Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit (numbering several hundred) was exceptional for this time of year: the number of spring passage waders seen in February has increased dramatically over the past decade in association with climate change.
Cathy and Anna visited Heacham North North to search for colour-ringed Turnstone and were successful and a subsequent tour of the beaches at Heacham yielded further Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit sightings. Claudia and Bee searched the surrounding fields diligently for Curlew. One flock of 40 was discovered but were too distant to read. This flock was subsequently revisited with Rob for a second attempt at viewing but were flushed by a Marsh Harrier and headed to the intertidal.
Nick, Ed and Rob had a rain break at the Granary they were shortly joined by Bee and Claudia. The team then rearranged itself to take advantage of the falling tide window: Rob and Claudia headed to Snettisham after failing to read flags on the earlier Curlew flock found in a field, they then moved to finish the session at Heacham North North, four hours after high tide.
A cooked breakfast was enjoyed before the team headed to Terrington Marsh to set two lines of mist nets on the outer pool at 17:15 hrs. One line of nets had a heavier braid designed for larger waders. The team put sound lures out at 19:40 hrs and continually extracted until 10 minutes before high tide. Two Curlew were caught and taken off immediately for ringing; subsequently the main movement of birds were taken back to basecamp with the remaining team taking down the nets.
The catch was notable for the sample of Knot obtained, with 45 birds being flagged by two pairs of ringers. Two birds with illegible flags had their flags replaced. Notable controls included a bird ringed in northwest Iceland in May 2014 and a bird ringed on passage in Porsanger, Norway in May 2016. Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit were caught in this session adding variety to the species mix sampled, with six Bar-tailed Godwit receiving flags. One retrap Bar-tailed Godwit was originally ringed in 2008.
8 February 2026
The team took time to tidy up and ensure all data were checked and inputted correctly given the late finishing time of 02:00 hrs. A relaxed journey home was then undertaken. Despite the small team, this was a productive weekend of fieldwork with a valuable winter mist-netting sample of Knot being the highlight.
Ringing totals
| New | Recaptures | Total | |
| Oystercatcher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Curlew | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Turnstone | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Knot | 107 | 6 | 113 |
| Dunlin | 17 | 0 | 17 |
| Totals | 137 | 10 | 147 |
Resighting totals (all WWRG birds)
| Resightings | Birds | |
| Curlew | 18 | 17 |
| Turnstone | 15 | 14 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | 7 | 7 |
| Total | 40 | 38 |
There was also one Headstarted Curlew from 2024 seen.
Thanks to Rob Pell for writing this report. Cover photo by Cathy Ryden.