Awesome migration day and first spotted redshanks

It’s been 4 days since the autumn season started, and the waders are here! The weather is not very sunny and hot, but it’s good for migration: we've had SW, SE, and E winds in the last few days, bringing a lot of oystercatchers, dunlins, and bar-tailed godwits close to the beach. Today was a very good day, we had more than 800 dunlins and about 250 oystercatchers. There were also fewer bar-tailed godwits and curlews than on previous days, but the number of shanks and sandpipers is clearly increasing (124 redshanks today). We saw the first spotted redshanks of the season as well. In total we had about 1500 waders.

We are enjoying the results of the good work from the past few weeks, which involved cleaning and preparing all the observation spots. We created different spots adapted to each wind direction, so we can be protected by the bushes and have more comfort during observation. We also cut the grass and pruned the bushes along the paths that connect the spots to each other. See below how proud Henrik seems about the “NW wind spot”!

Kai, the German volunteer who joined us for the last 2 weeks, left the station yesterday. I really enjoyed sharing experiences with him and comparing the birds of our countries. It is also (and already) Maxim’s last week at the station, and we will definitely miss the incredible dinners he cooks.

The days are slowly getting shorter, but it doesn’t change how much we enjoy the sunrises.

Current people at the station: Maxim, David and Théotim