Wader Tales

WaderTales blogs are written by Graham Appleton, to celebrate waders and wader research. Many of the articles are based on previously published papers, with the aim of making wader science available to a broader audience. Click on a link in bold to read an individual blog. Black-tailed Godwits feature strongly, alongside much RSPB and Iceland-based  breeding wader research.

Black-tailed Godwits

The individual movements and breeding season behaviour of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits have been studied for twenty years by researchers at the Universities of East Anglia, Iceland and Aveiro. They have been helped by thousands of birdwatchers.

• Why do some Black-tailed Godwits wear colour-rings? explains the roles of colour-rings and colour-ring readers
• Godwits and Godwiteers focuses on contribitions by colour-ring  readers but also includes links to 19 papers to which they have contributed.
• Black-tailed Godwits expand their range in Russia & Iceland has at its heart a recent paper in Wader Study
• Why is spring migration getting earlier? discusses the pioneering role of new recruits to the Black-tailed Godwit population.
• Spring moult in Black-tailed Godwits  reveals the major changes that occur as birds prepare for the breeding season.
• Godwits in, godwits out: springtime on the Washes reflects on the different time schedules for limosa and islandica Black-tailed Godwits.
• Overtaking on Migration explains how Portuguese birds manage to overtake Black-tailed Godwits that winter further north, as they race to get back to Iceland early.
• Black-tailed Godwits and Volcanic Eruptions reveals the impact of ash-fall on breeding output.
• Dutch Black-tailed Godwit numbers down by nearly 75% describes how counts and colour-ring sightings in Spain & Portugal are used to monitor Dutch populations.
• Black-tailed Godwit pairs – the importance of synchrony reveals what happens if one member of the pair is late getting back to its territory.
• Waiting for the wind – spring flocks of Black-tailed Godwit in Scotland reveals how dependent migrating godwit flocks are on weather patterns.
• Should Black-tailed Godwits cross the Sahara? investigates the trade-offs for limosa Black-tailed Godwits that winter in Iberia, instead of crossing the Sahara.
• Special Black-tailed Godwits asks birdwatchers to look out for 25 ‘head-started’ limosa Black-tailed Godwits that have been hand-reared in East Anglia (UK).

Iceland-based research

The range of wader research in Iceland has expanded over the years and these blogs give a taster of the the breadth of the work.

• Migratory decisions for Icelandic Oystercatchers explains how a new project will examine the costs and benefits of being a migrant.
• Whimbrels on the move summarises a recent paper about the movements of Icelandic, ringed Whimbrel.
• How volcanic eruptions help waders shows that areas of Iceland which have been subjected to the highest amount of ash-fall accommodate the highest densities of breeding waders.
• Do Iceland’s farmers care about wader conservation? At a time of agricultural expansion, are farmers prepared to leave space for breeding waders?

Lowland breeding waders in the UK: Lapwings and Redshanks

The work of RSPB and University of East Anglia scientists features strongly in these blogs, which focus on support for breeding wader populations in lowland wet grassland and salting.

• A helping hand for Lapwings investigates ways of keeping predators and wader chicks apart.
• How well do Lapwings and Redshanks grow? reports on a Wader Study paper that shows that there is plenty of food available on wet grassland managed for waders.
• Big-foot and the Redshank nest investigates appropriate cattle stocking levels for successful Redshank breeding.
• Can habitat management rescue Lapwing populations? Might the right mix of pools and verges with long grass provide a big enough uplift in nest success rates?
• Mastering Lapwing conservation focuses on two MSc projects that investigated actual and perceived risks of predation in Lapwings.

Single-species studies

This section is a bit of a miscellany. Each blog is focused on a particular species and is usually based on a scientific paper that highlights a broader issue of conservation importance.

• UK Dotterel numbers have fallen by 57% presents the results of an RSPB survey that was published in Bird Study.
• Conserving British-breeding Woodcock focuses on worrying results from the latest GWCT/BTO survey and work to reduce losses during the shooting season.
• Why do Turnstones eat chips? asks why we sometimes see waders feeding on unusual foods. Is this opportunism or desperation?
• Oystercatchers: from shingle beach to roof-tops details significant declines in Scotland,  mediated to some extent by range expansion in three dimensions.
• Lapwing moult focuses on a 1976 paper in which moult was studied by collecting feathers. There is a broader story about Lapwing moult and migration.
• Bar-tailed Godwits: migration & survival compares the efficacy of using rings and lettered flags to answer conservation questions.
• Snipe & Jack Snipe in the UK and Ireland compares the migratory strategies of the two species and laments the decline of Common Snipe, as a breeding species.
• Establishing breeding requirements of Whimbrel focuses on the different needs of adults and chicks in Shetland.

Project work

One of the aims of these blogs is to engage people in projects that are in need of volunteers or other forms of public engagement.

• NEWS and Oystercatchers focuses on the waders that  winter on coasts, instead of estuaries. It was written to promote the 205/16 coastal survey run by BTO.
• Tracking waders on the Severn urges birdwatchers to look for colour-marked waders and Shelducks, to support BTO and WWT work related to power generation on the Severn.
• All downhill for upland waders outlines changes to breeding numbers and distributions of waders breeding in England’s uplands.

Broader issues in wader/shorebird conservation

• Is the Curlew really near-threatened? considers the plight of breeding Curlew. It’s easy to understand why RSPB and BTO are focusing on this species.
• Prickly problems for waders explains how SNH are trying to deal with introduced Hedgehogs in the Outer Hebrides, where they are a major problem for breeding waders.
• Are there costs to wearing a geolocator? considers the use of geolocators in wader conservation and the costs for small birds like Semipalmated Sandpipers.
• A place to roost discusses the importance of safe, high-tide roosts, especially in terms of energetics. What are waders looking for?
• Why are we losing our large waders? takes a look at a review of the common threats faced by the 13 Numeniini species (godwits, curlews and Upland Sandpiper).
• Wader declines in the shrinking Yellow Sea discusses the link between reliance on the Yellow Sea and population declines, across wader species.

The intention is to add one or two new blogs each month. You can sign up to receive an e-mail notification when a new one is published.

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Graham (@grahamfappleton) has studied waders for over 40 years and is currently involved in wader research in the UK and in Iceland.  He was Director of Communications at The British Trust for Ornithology until 2013 and is now a freelance writer and broadcaster.