Liz writes:
Today we said a sad goodbye to Martin and Nige, who have maintained such an amazing sense of humour throughout, and have kept us laughing during our first week here. I (Liz) feel that I have learned a lot from them both and will be taking a lot of new ideas back for the kaki/black stilt captive rearing programme at home in New Zealand.
In honour of their departure, the single chick on its own has been named “Margel” (combination of Martin and Nigel). Margel is doing really well and keeping me (Liz) busy, I am concerned about the lack of social development with other spoon-billed sandpiper chicks and have been playing it SBS chick calls from video on the laptop. Hopefully in the next few days (weather dependent) I will be able to take it outside during the day so that I can help Roland finish the outdoor pens.