Friday 20 March
The day began with Cathy up bright and early for a trip to the Heacham beaches recceing for potential catching options. Multiple groups of birds were present, with roughly 300 Oystercatcher and 70 Sanderling present at Heacham South, as well as 50 Sanderling at Heacham North North (a deal less than the 400 Molly had found the night before).
For the evening high tide, Kate recce’d Heacham North North in an attempt to find Molly’s Sanderling from the night before. Over 100 Sanderling and a handful of Ringed Plover were present in a similar area to the large flock the night before. At the same time Liam went to recce the Horseshoe, looking for a potential Knot catch for Saturday evening. ~800 Oystercatcher, ~100 Curlew and a handful of Redshank were present, but not a Knot in sight. Notably the water level within the lagoon was incredibly low, rising over the tide, suggesting the inlet pipe is still not working properly.
It was decided that the Heacham South Oystercatchers were the most promising option. The trailer was packed and a team set off for a night-time set of two small-mesh nets at the Tump, before quickly making it back for as much rest as the early high tide would allow.
Saturday 21 March
The following morning, thick fog greeted the team, with the hide not able to clearly see the catching area. Unfortunately, by the time the fog had cleared and the team was in place the tide had already passed the maximum extent markers and was rising fast. As the net would’ve been washed out by the tide the decision to fire was taken and a catch of 18 Oystercatchers was made.
The team reset to attempt a falling tide catch of Sanderling, with birds present on other areas of Heacham South. The tide did not play ball however, and the net had to be moved twice, but this was accomplished quickly and effectively by the team. Having reached plan F, but not disheartened, the Sanderling were expertly twinkled into the catching area by Molly with Lucy (shadowed by Rob P one of our new cannon-net trainees) taking the catch, boosting the day’s numbers with 107 Sanderling. This was only half of the flock present within the catching area, but a faulty cartridge prevented the net from firing fully. This catch provided a great opportunity for double winging, where two individuals measure the wing length of the same bird, or an individual measures the wing length twice to check against themselves. An important process to ensure our data is scientifically robust and accurate. Whilst the kit was being packed, some of the team trekked out onto the mud and managed to pick up a handful of Curlew flags, boosting the weekend’s resighting totals. Following this the team returned to base for a well-deserved breakfast and to decide on a plan for the rest of the weekend.
Catch totals
| Species | New | Retrap | Total |
| Oystercatcher | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| Sanderling | 55 | 52 | 107 |
| Totals | 68 | 57 | 125 |
Having decided against an evening catch, the majority of the team got some well needed rest, as well as sorting a number of required maintenance tasks. David, Claudia and Liam headed out to attempt resighting and recceing. David visited the Inner Bund, a previous catching site, to attempt to resight and see if any birds were roosting in the area. Unfortunately, due to sunset no codes were recorded, but multiple flags were seen, highlighting it as a potential future resighting spot. Claudia and Liam visited multiple of the east coast beaches, beginning at Heacham North North, where unfortunately a lovely sunny evening meant heavy footfall, and high disturbance! Six Curlew flags were read. Following this the pair travelled to Snettisham, ending at Sailing Club Bay. The birds played ball and thousands of Oystercatcher, Knot and some Bar-tailed Godwit piled into the area of mud where flags can be read, the sun however had different plans, beautifully lighting up the mud and birds and making flag reading difficult. Only a single Bar-tailed Godwit flag was read, but it was a gorgeous evening regardless. Finally, the pair returned to Heacham North North to recce how many birds were using the beach with a thermal imager, prior to a morning catch attempt. This found 20–30 Sanderling, an unexpected drop in numbers from the nights before!
Sunday 22 March
The team was once again up bright and early, with a small contingent leaving early to set a single small-mesh net. The set was quick and efficient, outside of a few dropper related issues! The number of birds on the beach began steadily increasing with Sanderling, Turnstone and Ringed Plover making up smaller flocks and individuals spread across the water’s edge. The team was in position and David slowly but steadily walked the birds into the catching area, with Lucy (shadowed by Molly, our other new cannon-net trainee) taking the catch. Everything worked perfectly and a good catch was made: 139 Sanderling and 58 Turnstone. This catch was incredibly valuable as it gave the opportunity to deploy more colour rings on the wintering Turnstone population, boosting the number of individuals and improving yearly survival metrics calculated from resighting. As with the previous day’s catch, this proved a good opportunity for double winging to take place, once again helping to improve robustness of data.
Following the morning’s great catch the team split, with some heading straight home, Cathy and David staying to attempt to resight and others returning to refill their tanks with food. Liam and Molly took a detour and made the correct decision (if I do say so myself) for a lovely post catch celebratory ice cream! After breakfast, kit sorting and cleaning commenced and, slowly but surely, tired from a good weekend, the remaining team members departed on their journeys home.
Catch totals
| Species | New | Retrap | Total |
| Sanderling | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| Turnstone | 35 | 23 | 58 |
| Totals | 103 | 94 | 197 |
Resighting totals
| WWRG colour marks | Sightings | Individuals |
| Curlew | 48 | 35 |
| Bar-Tailed Godwit | 7 | 7 |
| Redshank | 1 | 1 |
| Turnstone | 30 | 10 |
| Knot | 5 | 5 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 10 | 7 |
| Headstarted Curlew | 2 | 2 |
| Non-WWRG Knot | 15 | 14 |
| Avocet | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 119 | 82 |
Ringing totals for the trip
| Species | New | Retrap | Total |
| Oystercatcher | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| Sanderling | 123 | 123 | 246 |
| Turnstone | 35 | 23 | 58 |
| Totals | 171 | 151 | 322 |
Thank you to everyone involved in making this weekend happen; the tireless planners, early-morning recciers, the meal-preppers, washers up and the resighters. This trip was incredibly useful both for data and training our new cannon-net trainees! Hopefully everyone has a lovely breeding season. Till we all meet again in the autumn, if not before!
Thanks to Liam Paulsom for writing this report. Cover image by Cathy Ryden.