Headstarting is a collaborative effort between WWT, BirdsRussia and the RSPB, and occurs as part of the International Arctic Expedition mounted each year by BirdsRussia under the leadership of Dr. Evgeny Syroechkovskiy.
Spoon-billed sandpiper feeding on worms (c) Baz Scampion

Observing SbS with a warm bottom

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
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spoon-billed sandpiper (c) Richard Smith

Earliest Record Ever

The morning is bright with a strong and cold south-west migration-friendly wind. The first of the Terns have arrived, Arctic Terns flying along the coast on their elaborate wing beats. Christoph took the WWT group out on to the tundra in search of a good site to build the rearing avia
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Sandhill crane eggs (c) Karin Eberhardt

Let Sleeping Bears Lie

Phil Palmer writes: It’s spring on the tundra, and as the snow melts it reveals the autumn crowberry crop, still available as food for the first migrant birds. The Moss Campion is opening in pink domes, willow catkins are furring up and the dwarf rhododendron budding. Notable sighting
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More pictures added to the gallery – 19 June 2011

19 June 2011 More pictures have been added to the gallery page. The gallery contains images of bird sightings, people we work and live with and members of the team.
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Rising water levels causing concerns – 12 June 2011

Sunday 12th June Martin reports: A bright sunny day. Today we headed out onto the spit with the quad bike. Simon and I took a radio and did a range check. It was connecting to about 2.5kms. We rode the 15kms to the end of the spit stopping off to check marshy ground adjacent to the la
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When will they arrive? – 1 June 2011

1 June 2011 Simon walked 24 miles today, all alone on the spit, he saw a leg flagged red knot that had been marked in the area previously, he had three red knot territories and had also logged a western sandpiper. I went with Jochen for a walk into the moraine hills to check two terri
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Our first meal – 17 May 2011

17 May 2011 Both of us tried to stay awake until 2100 but as soon as we led down at 1800 we slept, I awoke at 0100 and got back to sleep at 0330, we both got up at 0530, hungry and thirsty, we went to see if we could get a drink from the airport but it was closed, we had been advised
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