It’s May again and members of the Wash Wader Ringing Group are heading to Delaware to resight and catch waders as part of the Delaware Shorebird Project. Group members have been helping out with the study since it’s inception in the late 1990s, contributing to both the fieldwork and the analysis and write up of the data collected. More about the study can be found here: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/Shorebirds/Pages/default.aspx
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Friday 22 February
Alex and Aron headed to Snettisham and Heacham South beaches to recce at first light on Friday morning. Upon arrival at Heacham beach (06:15) there were c. 200 Curlew roosting along the tide edge in a thin line extending along the shore. At Snettisham Aron had c. 300 Oystercatchers. The visibility was initially quite poor due to mist over the coast, but it soon burnt off and an ‘oil slick’ of mainly Oystercatchers was sighted on Heacham South beach. The flock was made up of 2,000+ Oystercatchers, 100+ Sanderling, c. 500 godwits, c. 50 Knot, c. 25 Curlew and 5−10 Ringed Plover.
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The trip didn’t start well with the first possible catch called off before we even got to the Wash. Nigel had a bad back and wasn’t even sure that he would be able to make it to the Wash at all, but definitely couldn’t go cannon netting on the Saturday, so the Friday recce was called off.
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Friday 12th October
The team met at the base house on Friday evening for a meal and to discuss plans for the weekend. Cathy had been at the base since Tuesday and had undertaken several trips to the coast to determine available opportunities for re-sighting and had already obtained some resightings. Cathy had recced the favourite fields around Heacham but had not found any Curlew, possibly as it is too early in the winter for the Curlew to use the fields as yet.
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Friday 7 September
The majority of the team assembled Friday evening to prepare for the week ahead. Introductions were made and included a warm welcome to Clive who was one of the founding members of WWRG in 1959 and was looking forward to revisiting old haunts. Early recces from Cathy yielded little more than c. 40 Sanderling on Snettisham Beach so the plan was agreed to mist net on Saturday morning at Gedney.
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