Update from Jodie Clements After what felt like an eternity, the eggs had finally been incubated long enough to see whether or not they were fertile… we had some concerns over fertility as no obviously successful copulations had been witnessed. You may be thinking, well this is a priv

It’s with great pride and sadness that we announce the successful breeding of the first spoonie chick at Slimbridge and the first ever anywhere in the world, however the bird has sadly died. Just as we were about to officially announce the news, it died of a tragic flying injury that

It’s that time of year again! The monitoring and headstarting team have arrived at the breeding grounds in Meinypil’gyno, Russia to await the return of the spoon-billed sandpipers, and at WWT Slimbridge, we’ve moved birds to breeding aviaries and the singing and nest scrap

Our flock of spoon-billed sandpipers are showing clear signs of maturing. All the birds have started to moult from juvenile into their first winter plumage, which is a polished silvery white like a suit of armour. During a recent evening feed all the birds were being particularly nois

Enjoy this video of the birds enjoying a splash in the pool in their new room    

Nicky writes: It has been a particularly exciting week at spoon-billed sandpiper HQ. After a couple of weeks’ preparation work, the 2nd wintering room was ready for the birds to move into. The heaters were cranked up to optimum temperature, the heat lamps hung, the pool filled with ci

Nicky writes: I’ve just returned from handling all the sandpipers, something we do fortnightly to assess their physical condition and general well-being. The good news – we were happy with today’s health check. Nigel, Rebecca, Michelle – our resident vet – and I rounded up

By Nicky Hiscock, Conservation Breeding Assistant This is our 38th day of showing live footage of the spoon-billed sandpipers to the public via a CCTV link at the conservation breeding facility. Each day at 2.30pm, when the birds are fed, visitors to WWT Slimbridge can watch live vide

By Nicky Hiscock, Conservation Breeding Assistant The sandpipers have been in their new home now for just over a month and they’re making good use of the surroundings we’ve carefully designed for them. The facility was built just in time for their arrival in 2011 and consists of two i