The GFN team is in Bohai Bay, China, to study Red Knots and Great Knots on northward migration. Chris Hassell, Adrian Boyle and Matt Slaymaker post regular updates on the Australian Global Flyway Network website. Here is the second of this season. The team reports:
Scanning come rain or shine…
We have had a bit of everything this week, Thunder and lightning, rain, wind and sun. Good days, bad days and completely useless days when the tide simply failed to come in, remaining 100’s of meters offshore. This happens occasionally, out of sync with the days either side, and ruins our scanning plans! Perhaps it is due to weather, atmospheric or environmental conditions elsewhere in Bohai Bay or the Yellow Sea?
Generally, numbers of birds on the mudflats are increasing daily. Great Knots, an early migrant, are already here in good numbers; however, Red Knot were a little later than usual. The last few days have seen a significant increase in numbers but there are still plenty of ‘Broome birds’ yet to get here.
Our second count of the season, scheduled for the next couple of days, will hopefully provide a more accurate measure of what is here. While many shorebirds are still some way to the south, others have started to leave with a small flock Eastern Curlew seen migrating north over town on the 25th April…..The full report can be found at the website Global Flyway Network Australia.
