And before you know it it’s all over. I am back in Broome; Kath is on her way to Chongming Dao today and the Liu’s have jobs and kids/grandkids to keep them busy! So, we have said our goodbyes to the Nanpu seawall and the birds for 2024. We wish them well on the rest of their journey to breed and back to their non-breeding grounds where we hope to encounter them again.
The fieldwork was, as it always is, mixed. We had a terrible run of tides where birds were way out on the mud at first light when we arrived on the seawall. And then the day the birds were reasonably close the light was awful, and the mud looked like a pool of molten silver or mercury. Beautiful. But impossible to read flags or colourbands. We persisted with early morning starts and an afternoon trip to Hangu for very little data for 6 days. So, when finally, the tides and the light turned in our favour we were very pleased. And then we were getting up to 25 GFN colourbands per day on the mud. And when the birds were roosting in late afternoon light, and we could scan in the salt pond roost we got up to 33 with new colourband individuals still arriving every day. Plus of course all the other flags from throughout the EAAF and CAF that we record.
We also had with us for the whole time we were at Nanpu a receiver to try and download data from the Bluetooth tags on Great and Red Knots from the work in Roebuck Bay in October 2023 (see https://www.globalflywaynetwork.org/publications Tagging 2023, Broome, Australia). Some of the time we tied the receiver to a permanent sign on the seawall and sometimes carried it with us. Also, Tong Mu and Rainy Cai were scanning with us at Nanpu and at other sites in the Bohai Sea. We didn’t pick up any of the Great Knots at Nanpu, but we got a few of the Red Knots.
Kath and Rainy killing two birds with one stone, so to speak! |
This seems to be reflected in the results of the subspecies comparisons that we make. Usually by late May the piersmai subspecies dominates. Not so this year. It is difficult to give a definitive reason at short notice but either rogersi are leaving late for their breeding grounds or the piersmai haven’t arrived yet, or perhaps won’t arrive, and will go directly to the New Siberian Islands breeding grounds from sites further south. The final report will expand on this, but it is certainly not a ‘traditional’ season regarding the subspecies timing through Nanpu.
One bird that did arrive complete with colourbands and tag is represented below with a brief history.
The season’s final report will update you all on the Wetland Park, the salt/aquaculture ponds, breeding birds, general bird migration and more details on the fieldwork.
Thanks, as ever, to a range of people who were highlighted at the start of Update 1. And once more particular thanks to Professor Zhang and the Liu family.
Katherine and Chris 2024 06 05.