Sanderling highlights March 2022

Sanderling continue to be seen regularly in the South Australian section of Discovery Bay. Many of the flags recorded by observers are of individuals captured at Yambuck in early December 2021. Sanderling have been absent from the Nene Valley beach all season until the last few weeks 1 or 2 have occasionally been seen. On Saturday 19th March, a small group of 20-30 was sighted, including BMZ – yet another Yambuck individual.

Going further to the west we have had sightings from Little Rock and Pethers in Canunda. On 14th March, BKE was sighted – originally flagged at Yambuck, then seen by at Danger Point on 3rd March.

So, now we need some sightings from the Coorong! With Coorong the Park of the Month during March, and a Shorebirds activity on the 26th, fingers crossed we get some more sightings.

Congratulations to Sarah Campbell on winning the February Sanderling award of a print with this stunning photo of Sanderling BJH taken in Riddock Bay. BJH was originally flagged in the early December catch at Yambuck.

Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th April were the last days in the field. The catching team has had variable success. The high note is that all 30 geolocators were deployed. The low note is that only one has been retrieved. This despite the fact that birds bearing geolocators have been observed at all catching sites, e.g. VAZ (aka ATZ) has been seen several times at Nene Valley west.

You can learn more about the Sanderling tracking project on the Glenelg Hopkins CMA website.