I recently received news from Simon Buckell who saw 21 Spoon-billed sandpipers on 27th August. The birds (12 adults and 9 juveniles) were feeding on a part of the mudflats at Yangkou. It’s quite possible that there were other spoonies on other parts of the mudflats, therefore it’s conceivable that 10% of the World population were at Yangkou on that day. This provides additional evidence of the importance of this site in China. It’s absolutely vital that the mudflats are saved for the thousands of shorebirds that feed and rest there on their long migrations. The decision-makers have a short window of time when they can take positive action to ensure that this place becomes one of the World’s most important and famous coastal wetlands for migrating birds. If positive action is not taken, then the mudflats where the spoonies were feeding will probably be gone in five years.
Here is an image of a SBS at Yangkou that Simon sent me.
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There are more images of Spoon-billed sandpiper and other waders at Yangkou at this website.