Latest news from the field team in Russia

Roland, Nicky and the team have been without internet for the best part of a week, but last night Roland sent some notes on what’s been happening. All the eggs hatched okay in the end. One chick was badly positioned in the egg and needed assistance once it became apparent that it was

Twenty critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper chicks have hatched under WWT’s expert care in the Russian Far East. Conservationists took the eggs from the wild, in order to protect them from extreme weather and predators. The first hatched early last Wednesday morning and they c

Week 1 (11th – 19th June) Three days of travelling and I was finally at my destination – Meinypil’gyno, Chukotka in Far North East Russia. The helicopter journey from Anadyr airport was truly spectacular and certainly made up for the many boring hours of travelling I had experienced o

08 June A very wet and quiet day on the surveying front; however, a very busy one for us all in the village. Pavel and Egor moved out to go and stay with Nikolai and Nastai, giving me a chance to give the house a deep clean and make sure everything was in its correct place before the

Roland has sent another bulletin through the ether from Russia, updating us on happenings from earlier in the month. Sadly no photos for now.   03 June Today was a good day as Roman had serviced and repaired the blue-black quad bikes, meaning we could now visit areas much further

27 May Today was a real trek, from the village down and along the Third River to the SW corner of Lake Pikul’ney and then North along the moraine hills on its Eastern shore towards an area known as the Cross, then into the moraine hills about a kilometre and back to the Third River an

22/05, got an invite from Andre to cross the ice on the second river and go out onto the coastal spit to see the whales and sea birds at close range. Thus far they’ve only been viewable through a scope at the river mouth (still very impressive, but will be better at close range)

Roland Digby has headed to Meinoypil’gyno to headstart another generation of Spoon-billed Sandpipers this breeding season. Despite a weak internet connection, he has managed to report back on his first few days:   Arrived in Anadyr on 16 May; weather clear but very cold and, alth

Thanks very much Baz for providing a summary and update on the captive breeding with nice images from last summer’s breeding season. This brings back fond memories of an amazing expedition to South Chukotka. I would like to take the opportunity to thank WWT, Birds Russia and the entir