Shortly after Chinese New Year Hebo Peng packed his bags and flew out of Shanghai on his first ever overseas trip. A year earlier at Yalu Jiang by the northern Yellow Sea he had caught, measured, banded and placed a transmitter on a Great Knot. Along with Professor Ma’s team from Fudan University he had tracked the bird’s southern migration to Roebuck Bay, near Broome in Western Australia, but in November 2012 all contact was lost. It seemed perhaps the bird had perished.
I met Hebo Peng in February when we joined the North-West Australia Wader and Tern Expedition in Broome with others from China, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and the UK. For 21 days the group of 27 led by Clive Minton from AWSG and Chris Hassell, who is with Global Flyway Network, set cannon nets to support research on waders around Roebuck Bay and along 80 Mile Beach. Biometric measurements were recorded for some 3000 waders. Geo-locators were attached to 57 Great Knot about to migrate north for the breeding season. A wide range of other wader species were flagged for scientific studies of their movements and longevity.
Banding a Terek Sandpiper I met Hebo Peng in February when we joined the North-West Australia Wader and Tern Expedition in Broome with others from China, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and the UK. For 21 days the group of 27 led by Clive Minton from AWSG and Chris Hassell, who is with Global Flyway Network, set cannon nets to support research on waders around Roebuck Bay and along 80 Mile Beach. Biometric measurements were recorded for some 3000 waders. Geo-locators were attached to 57 Great Knot about to migrate north for the breeding season. A wide range of other wader species were flagged for scientific studies of their movements and longevity.
On our third day at 80 Mile Beach, Hebo was assigned to a Great Knot banding team. He placed his hands into the first hessian-holding cage, carefully retrieved a Great Knot and placed it on his lap to take measurements. It was a re-trapped bird with a green and orange leg flag and the letters EC; the very same bird he had measured, flagged and attached a transmitter to more than a year earlier. The transmitter must have fallen off last November. There was some early breeding plumage and increase in weight indicating it was preparing well for its northward migration. The chance of Hebo finding exactly the same Great Knot again must be many thousands to one.
The significance of Roebuck Bay and 80 Mile Beach for migratory shorebirds is a relatively recent discovery. In 1980 Simon Bennett, who was working for RAOU (now Birdlife Australia) at that time, commented on the large number of waders he had seen on 80 Mile Beach and around Broome. The first wader surveys were carried out the following year and expeditions have been organized every year since. With increasing international concern about conservation across the Australasian flyway, the study of waders in north-west Australia plays a vital role in understanding wader ecology and survival. Scientific information on waders across the flyway is important not only for determining the most appropriate conservation strategies but also when arguing the case for conservation with national governments.
For those like me who are more used to counting a few hundred to a couple of thousand waders, north-west Australia is in a different dimension. Looking down 80 Mile Beach on my first day there I could see 60,000 birds across a four kilometer stretch of beach. The variety of waders is also extraordinary. Where perhaps I might see two or three Terek Sandpipers a summer in Moreton Bay, I found myself banding 20 in one morning. With luck, on a clear day I might occasionally identify a Broadbilled Sandpiper through my scope around Moreton Bay, but in the north-west on one day I retrieved more than 15 from a cannon net. Even so, overall numbers are declining across all flyways worldwide. There remains a clear urgency for sound data on waders especially across the Australasian flyway. At present there is insufficient data to accurately determine trends for almost two thirds of wader species coming to Australia each year.
The significance of Roebuck Bay and 80 Mile Beach for migratory shorebirds is a relatively recent discovery. In 1980 Simon Bennett, who was working for RAOU (now Birdlife Australia) at that time, commented on the large number of waders he had seen on 80 Mile Beach and around Broome. The first wader surveys were carried out the following year and expeditions have been organized every year since. With increasing international concern about conservation across the Australasian flyway, the study of waders in north-west Australia plays a vital role in understanding wader ecology and survival. Scientific information on waders across the flyway is important not only for determining the most appropriate conservation strategies but also when arguing the case for conservation with national governments.
For those like me who are more used to counting a few hundred to a couple of thousand waders, north-west Australia is in a different dimension. Looking down 80 Mile Beach on my first day there I could see 60,000 birds across a four kilometer stretch of beach. The variety of waders is also extraordinary. Where perhaps I might see two or three Terek Sandpipers a summer in Moreton Bay, I found myself banding 20 in one morning. With luck, on a clear day I might occasionally identify a Broadbilled Sandpiper through my scope around Moreton Bay, but in the north-west on one day I retrieved more than 15 from a cannon net. Even so, overall numbers are declining across all flyways worldwide. There remains a clear urgency for sound data on waders especially across the Australasian flyway. At present there is insufficient data to accurately determine trends for almost two thirds of wader species coming to Australia each year.
Successive years of banding have provided the opportunity for good numbers of re-trapped birds. Re-traps can provide useful data on bird health and life expectancy. In 2013, the oldest re-trap was a 22-year-old Great Knot in robust health. Some re-trapped Curlew Sandpipers and Greater Sandplovers had been migrating for 20 years. Examination of wing molt can be used to identify juveniles. The data from molt examination suggested a poor 2012 breeding season for species that nest within the Arctic Circle and an average breeding year for those waders that nest further south.
The expeditions have always attracted international volunteers but in more recent times these volunteers have come from countries along the flyway to Australia’s north. For me, one of the most inspiring aspects of the expedition was the enthusiasm of young volunteers from across Asia who joined the expedition. It is generally acknowledged that expeditions have been a major boost to fieldwork training and in building networks of committed citizens and scientists across the Australasian flyway. Volunteering for the expedition can be a highly rewarding experience. Having a good level of fitness, handling waders while vigilantly following ethical practices for wader welfare and a keenness to work as a team member, seem to me to be essential for a rewarding experience.
The expeditions have always attracted international volunteers but in more recent times these volunteers have come from countries along the flyway to Australia’s north. For me, one of the most inspiring aspects of the expedition was the enthusiasm of young volunteers from across Asia who joined the expedition. It is generally acknowledged that expeditions have been a major boost to fieldwork training and in building networks of committed citizens and scientists across the Australasian flyway. Volunteering for the expedition can be a highly rewarding experience. Having a good level of fitness, handling waders while vigilantly following ethical practices for wader welfare and a keenness to work as a team member, seem to me to be essential for a rewarding experience.