Dunlins' resightings from Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

Last January, we extended our dunlin colour-ringing program to Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, one of the most important wintering areas for this species. Dunlins were colour ringed with a combination of 3 standard colour rings plus one blue flag (instead of the green flag used at the Tagus estuary, Portugal). Despite the low number of birds marked during this first expedition, we have already 2 resightings! 

One of the birds, WO-BfR, was captured by Hugh Hinsley in Cuinabunag-Benbecula (Western Isles, Scotland) in early May. The other one, GW-BfR, was spotted by Geoffrey Hunt in Ballylongford, Kerry (Ireland) by the end of July.

 

 

 

Camilo and Pedro colour-ringing a dunlin at Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

Foraging dunlins at the mudflats of Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

And Spring Begins!

IC, TC and PML waiting for the right moment to capture the birds. Spring has come a bit rough this year!

Spring has arrived. And so did northward migration and another fieldwork season! For the first capture attempts we used a new and "homemade" woosh net at some high-tide roosts and we managed to capture some dunlins Calidris alpina, sanderlings Calidris alba, ringed plovers Charadrius hiaticula and Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus.

Amongst these we had some recaptures, including two special dunlins captured on the 28th of March at the Brito saltpans: dunlin 3580058, a bird carrying a Swedish ring, and dunlin D018942, which was ringed by some of us at the neighbour Vale Frades saltpans on the 7th of January of 2003! At the moment of capture, this dunlin bird was aged as 5 (Euring code, meaning that the bird was born the previous year), so it is celebrating the 11th anniversary this year! Although impressive, and a really nice recapture information, remember that the longevity record for this species is 28 years and 10 months (see Euring list)!

  

Location of the Brito and Vale de Frades saltpans: two roosts ca. 6 km apart where the same dunlin was captured within 11 years!

 

 

 

 

Dunlin (Calidris alpina) with Swedish ring

TC and CC processing birds at Hortas fieldstation.

 

Expeditions to Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania 

December 2012 and January 2013

The winter 2012/2013 has been a mark in our long-term shorebird projects. In the scope of the new project Invisible Links we started to broaden the geographic borders of our study areas and headed for southern wintering areas within the East-Atlantic Flyway: Mauritania and Morocco.

The Banc d'Arguin stands on the African Atlantic coast, where the ocean and the desert meet. The coastal area comprises shallow coastal areas with extensive mudflats covered by seagrass, small islands, coastal swamps and sand dunes. The Banc d'Arguin is one of the most important areas in the world for migratory waders, holding approximately 2 million birds!

The main goals of the two expeditions were to (1) sample the several components of the trophic web to study its functioning through stable isotope analysis, (2) sample wader toenails to assess their isotopic signatures and describe a characteristic and reference signal for Banc d'Arguin, (3) improve the knowledge on the diet and foraging behaviour of small waders, with particular focus on dunlins and sanderlings.

Sampling invertebrates at Banc d'Arguin

Sorting invertebrate samples at the Iwik field station

 Our expeditions to Banc d'Arguin gave us the opportunity to expand the Dunlin colour-ringing program started in 2008 at the Tagus estuary. The help of the NIOZ team was crucial during night captures. Dunlins were colour ringed with a combination of 3 standard colour rings plus one blue flag ring.

Colour-marked dunlin (Calidris alpina)

January is also time for the annual waterbird count leaded by PNBA (Parc National du Banc d'Arguin). We joined the PNBA staff to the islands of Niroumi and Arel to count thousands of waders that use this islands to rest during high tide.

Integrating the PNBA staff team to perform annual waterbird counts at Banc d'Arguin

NEW RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

In the scope of the new project "Invisible Links: unveiling origins of migratory waders using biogeochemical markers" a new call is open for a Master Research Fellowship.

Job description

Main research and tasks: i) participation in ringing sessions and bird sampling; ii) participation in the sampling of estuarine biota, manely water, sediment, plants, invertebrates, etc; iii) participation in bird census; iv) participation in data compilation and data analysis; v) participation in laboratory work, namely invertebrate identification and sample preparation for stable isotope analysis. Fieldwork will be carried mainly at the Tagus estuary (Lisboa), but there may be a need for participation in work in western Africa (Guinea-Bissau or Mauritania) for a period between 1 and 3 months.

Host institution: Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciênica da Universidade de Lisboa

Fellowship duration: 3 + 9 months, starting on the 15th of November 2012. Candidates should send a (max. 2 page) motivation letter and a CV (max. 4 pages, with grades) to teresa_catry(at)yahoo.com until the 25th of September.

More informations available at http://www.eracareers.pt/opportunities/index.aspx?task=showAnuncioOportunities&jobId=31373&idc=1

Updating dunlin resightings II

While getting close to the end of the Project MigraTagis, another milestone was recently achieved: more than 500 dunlins were colour-marked with individual combinations at the Tagus estuary. Fortunately, the number of resightings has also increased, and we had the first exciting records from Africa: one from Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, and the second from the Naila Lagoon, Morocco. Find more on the whereabouts of Portuguese dunlins...

click here
(click the flags in the kmz file to see individual dunlin history)

Waders are declining at the Tagus estuary

Results from the long-term monitoring of wintering waders at the Tagus estuary has now brought the worrying evidence: populations are indeed declining! Wintering populations of three out of the five most abundant species, Dunlin Calidris alpina, Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola and Redshank Tringa totanus, showed significant declines over the past three decades. In the Tagus estuary several roosts have disappeared in the last decades, while others are presently threatened by human activities, and this is likely to be one of the most relevant causes of wader declines.
This study, now published in the journal Bird Conservation International, also provides data about the phenology and patters of roost-use of waders in the Tagus estuary. New data highlights the importance of this wetland as a stopover site for waders using the East-Atlantic Flyway, with very high numbers of birds occuring during spring and autumn migration.
You can read more here.

NEW Research Grant

Job description:

Main research: foraging ecology and distribution of wintering and migratory waders at the Tagus estuary.
Tasks: capture and ringing of waders, radio-tracking work (which involves apart from radio-tracking sessions, the installation of a net of radio-tracking stations and continuous equipment monitoring), invertebrate sampling, regular bird counts at both intertidal and roosting areas.
Host institution: Museu Nacional de História Natural da Universidade de Lisboa
Grant duration: 7 months, starting on the 1st of November

Candidates should send a (max. 2 page) motivation letter and a CV (max. 3 pages, with grades) to jpgranadeiro(at)fc.ul.pt until the 22nd of October.

More informations available at http://www.eracareers.pt/opportunities/index.aspx?task=global&jobId=20031