Waking to freezing fog, nobody wanted to go out. By noon I needed fresh air so I worked my way along the hills overlooking the lake. By 16.30, I had walked 9km and seen nothing. A calling Spoon-billed Sandpiper broke my duck but the walk home seemed destined to be long and cold. After

Christoph writes: It is always fascinating to see a pair of Spoon-billed Sandpiper displaying and chasing each other across the sparse tundra vegetation, despite a very reluctant spring and conditions that are still very cold. It is also reassuring to see these fragile little creature

Liz  Brown writes: On leaving New Zealand a little over two weeks ago, I carefully packed all the thick polar fleece, merino wool and thermal layers I could fit into my allotted 23kg baggage allowance. I never expected to arrive to such amazingly warm and well-insulated houses! My thi

Karin writes: Things are beginning to move very quickly now. Given the need to fledge young before the end of the short arctic summer, the birds have no time to waste. Each of the three teams that went out into the moraine hills and plains, areas in which we had many nests in the past

Baz Scampion writes: I had one of my best days of birding and bird photography in a long time today. Everywhere I looked the birds kept popping up in front of me. There were a couple of obliging SbS feeding in the river, and loads of good waders like stunning summer plumage Grey Plove

Karin writes: June 1 marks the first day of the meteorological summer—the three warmest months of the year—but the summer in Meinypil’gyno began with snow and frost. Tom is in awe of how the SbS and other tiny waders leave places like Myanmar in the hottest season, to fly