As mentioned in the last blog, we were really hoping to see the Spoon-billed Sandpiper marked White MA (white leg-flag engraved with the letters MA) this year. He was headstarted by Roland and the team in 2013, has been seen and photographed in the flyway, and returned to successfully breed last year.
Well we didn’t need to wait long!
A message came from Roland today saying White MA has arrived safe and well and is back in the same territory he occupied last year. Fingers-crossed he finds a mate and eggs follow soon!
The first Spoon-billed Sandpipers to reach the Meinypil’gyno breeding grounds were spotted yesterday. Roland, Ivan, Egor and Pavel (check the team page for info on these spoonie heroes) have seen and heard a handful of males so far.
From Roland: “the conditions are very dry, although there is now a little more water about due to the melting snow in the mountains and there are lots of cool birds around, most notably the Steller’s eiders, which are something I’ve always wanted to see.”
It’s great to hear the team have already seen Spoon-billed Sandpipers as well as plenty of other wildlife in the area, with White MA the star of the show so far. Hopefully, there will soon be news of lots more flagged birds returning.
We’ll update you with more info as we get it.
We haven’t received any photos from the field yet this year but here’s a photo of Steller’s eiders taken in March of this year in Norway (Kane Brides/WWT). Mega birds!
