Tag: Norfolk

A landscape photo showing a lagoon on a march, underneath a cloudy sky with the sun shining brightly through a gap in the clouds.

Fieldwork February / March 2025

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Friday 28 February

Recces had been carried out in the morning by Cathy and Hilary at Snettisham, Heacham, Heacham S and Heacham NN starting at 06:15. No good targets were found, totals were 1+5 Oystercatcher at Snettisham, 4+7+4+10 Oystercatcher at Heacham, 50 Oystercatcher at Heacham S and 150 Curlew spread along the beach, with nothing at Heacham NN. However, the Heacham S Oystercatcher left as Hilary arrived on the beach and it was too dark to see exactly where they had come from.

A recce by Hilary and Molly on the afternoon rising tide at Heacham S found Oystercatchers present again that could be a possible target, especially as that was close to where they had been caught on the previous trip, together with 50 Curlew. However, the Oystercatchers were spooked by dogs as the mud covered and didn’t gather on the beach as had been hoped. 230 Sanderling and several Ringed Plover were also found on Heacham NN as the sun set.

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Fieldwork February 2025

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Friday 14 February

The team arrived on Friday night to a welcoming, hot jacket potato dinner prepared by Cathy. The plan for the following morning was confirmed, with resighting efforts scheduled to begin at 09:00 on Saturday.

Saturday 15 February

The morning’s weather forecast indicated a 70% chance of rain, which led Nigel to cancel the planned mist-netting session at Terrington Outer Pool due to concerns about freezing rain affecting the nets and the welfare of the birds. Instead, Nigel proposed a potential cannon-netting session before or after the afternoon high tide at Heacham South, where Rob P had observed a flock of around 400 Oystercatchers and 80 Sanderling earlier in the day. This plan was left to be confirmed following the morning resighting efforts.

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Fieldwork January / February 2025

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Friday 31 January

The trip kicked off with a number of team members arriving early, allowing for resighting and a recce on the Friday morning tides. Lys and Cathy checked Heacham North North, North and South beaches and Hilary investigated Snettisham whilst Nigel and Richard went to recce Sailing Club Bay, finding roughly 2,500 –3,000 Oystercatchers roosting. Very promising for a good catch! In the afternoon the net-setting team consisting of Nigel, Richard, Molly, Jerry, Cathy, Lys, Hilary and the Film Crew went to Sailing Club Bay, setting both a full and half large-mesh net with the camera crew preparing for the following morning. Cathy kindly led the cooking of dinner for the evening so the later arriving team could have a lovely meal before an early night.

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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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Fieldwork January 2025

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On Friday morning, Cathy and Lys recced along the east shore between Snettisham and Heacham NN. Very little was seen on the rising tide, which came up the beach to the ledge in the sand. Over the high tide, a handful of Turnstone were in their usual place on Heacham NN with a few ringed birds amongst them. On the falling tide, around 100 Oystercatchers were seen south of the dam at Snettisham, although they were spread out. Overall, no good cannon-netting options were found for Saturday morning. This, alongside the lack of suitable weather for mist netting, made Friday evening a fairly relaxed event.

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