Waders

After a lengthy meeting to discuss the fine details of tomorrow’s workshop, I had some free time to go to the mudflats in search of some feathered delights.  There will be a field visit during the workshops, so it was also a reconnaissance to observe the environmental issues in the area.  Walking across a huge area of estuarine mud in search of a small wader in amongst thousands of others is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.  I was becoming increasingly disconsolate.  The tide was approaching and almost at our feet when local expert Zhang Lin invited me to look through his scope, and there in the distance was a Spoon-billed sandpiper in breeding plumage.  I literally only had less than thirty seconds to watch this prize bird before we had to move on away from the oncoming tide.  We retreated to the sea wall to watch the waders at one of the high tide roosts which is on reclaimed land.  The roost site would make a fantastic nature reserve with the appropriate infrastructure.  Sadly, a biochemical factory will soon be built there. 

The mudflats where the waders feed are also diminishing, this time from an introduced species of spartina grass.  As I mentioned in my previous post, this place is already popular with birdwatchers, it is good for other migrant birds as well as waders.  If some of these areas were made into nature reserves, then Yangkou could become as popular and as famous as Beidahe.  It will be interesting to hear the views of the Government officers at next week’s meeting. 

A few waders at the roost

Watching a wader roost