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Departure directions of Sanderlings and ‘tundra’ Common Ringed Plovers from the northernmost Danish Wadden Sea in spring

Info

Pages
25 – 30

Published
1 June 15

Authors
Kim Fischer, Hans Meltofte

DOI
10.18194/ws.00001

Correspondence
Kim Fischer
fuglekim@gmail.com
Toftevej 3D, DK-6720 Fanø, Denmark

Files

Public Files

To help elucidate the extent to which Siberian Sanderlings Calidris alba utilize the East Atlantic Flyway in spring, a few thousand Sanderlings were kept under observation for departure directions during 29 hours on 17 evenings in late May and early June 2014 in the northernmost part of the Danish Wadden Sea. Eleven flocks totalling 460 birds flew WNW/NW and three flocks totalling 75 birds flew ENE/NE. In other years, two flocks of Sanderlings totalling 205 individuals left towards the ENE in 1989, and in 2013, six flocks totalling 1,595 Sanderlings departed towards the NW. During the same period in 2014, two flocks of ‘tundra’ Common Ringed Plovers Charadrius hiaticula psammodroma/tundrae totalling 32 individuals departed towards the NW, 64 birds in five flocks headed N, and 68 birds in five flocks headed NE. In 2013, 11 flocks with a total of 226 Common Ringed Plovers flew NW. These observations indicate that, similar to Red Knots Calidris canutus, both Icelandic/Nearctic and Palearctic populations of Sanderlings and Common Ringed Plovers are present among the staging waders in the northernmost part of the Wadden Sea in spring.