Tag: Wash Wader Ringing Group

A group of shorebirds standing on a beach. Most are Semipalmated Sandpipers, but one is larger and is a Sanderling. All are white underneath - the sandpipers have grey backs and heads while the Sanderling also has reddish brown feathers. Photo by Cathy Ryden.

Delaware 2023: 10 – 17 May

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Wednesday 10 May

The first team of Brits made it safely across the sea and by the evening were looking over Mispillion Harbour in Delaware Bay, a long way from the UK. The sun dipped lower in the sky and the calls of Laughing Gulls filled the air as shorebirds foraged on the shores. For those who had come many times before, there was definitely a sense of returning to a familiar home. Jet-lag fatigue setting in, it wasn’t long after we arrived at this year’s WWRG base, on Slaughter Beach, that we all went to bed.

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Newly ringed Curlew about to be released, by Cathy Ryden

Why The Wash is so important for Curlew: selected stories from over 60 years of Wader Study

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Curlew are declining so alarmingly that they are now ‘Red-Listed’ as birds of conservation concern. The Wash is one of the two main UK sites for both passage and wintering Eurasian Curlew (the other being Morecambe Bay – WeBS data). Autumn passage birds use the intertidal mudflats to feed on polychaete worms, shellfish and Green Crabs. Some birds will move on to smaller sites around the Norfolk coast, the southwest of England, and northwest France. Here they will spend the winter before returning to their breeding grounds. The majority of Curlew using the Wash breed in Finland and Sweden, a migratory journey of over 1,000 miles. There is more background information on our Curlew page.

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Groupd of people sitting on a sandy seawall in warm orange light, by Sam Franks

Fieldwork March 2023 (part 1)

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Friday 10 March

Lizzie and Guy braved the freezing winds to recce at first light. Guy walked south from Heacham to view Heacham South beach from one viewpoint, whilst Lizzie walked north from Snettisham car park to check Snettisham and gain a different view of Heacham South. Despite normally being a prime spot for Oystercatchers, only 10 were present close to the usual catching area just south of the tump. Clearly sheltering from the inclement conditions, they were hunkered down amongst the tidewrack at the top of the beach. Guy visited Heacham North, to find another 60 behaving much the same – just 100 m north of the South beach access point. It was noted this was unusual behaviour for the roosting birds, as this area is often very busy with visitors. Guy then went on to Heacham North North beach and found 90 Oystercatchers split into three groups – 60, 20 and 10. Additionally, there were ca. 100 Turnstone, Sanderling and Ringed Plover scattered across the beach. Almost no beach was visible at this point, because of the unusually strong wave action and tide height. Again, the birds were right on the upper edge of the beach along the tidewrack – their behaviour clearly being affected by the strong winds.

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Group of people ringing birds, by Sam Franks.

Fieldwork February 2023

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Friday 24 February

Recces

Cathy recced on Friday morning. Snettisham and Heacham beaches were being ‘recharged’ (moving sand onto the beach, before the start of the tourist season) and there were also reports of Peregrine and Gyr Falcon at Snettisham Pits. These events may have affected birds’ movements, but Oystercatchers were seen on all the beaches recced, with the birds on Heacham North North being the most reliable. A few Turnstone were also seen, the majority at Heacham South beach, where a flock of ca. 200 Bar-tailed Godwits were also observed.

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Sunrise over a misty saltmarsh, by David King

Fieldwork January 2023

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Friday 20 January

At 13:00 Mark went to recce on Heacham South beach. At this time the tide had a long way to come back in and there were lots of Oystercatchers out on the mud. Strong onshore wind and waves caused the birds to come quickly off the mud and onto the beach. Mark observed five separate groups of about 100 each. Some of the birds moved right up to the previous tide line before high tide arrived while three of the groups stayed at the water’s edge. Unhappy with the large amount of people and dog walkers on the beach, many birds flew off to Snettisham Pits; however, Mark stayed until after dark (around 16:30), by which point the number of people had reduced, and despite the strong wind there were still Oystercatchers on the grot line.

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