Video from Russia Today also with Oystercatchers!

It is only today that I found this great video on Kandalaksha Reserve on YouTube.
As I see Ninburg in the film - it means the film is at least two summers owld.
And it is great! And in English!

Always in the Top!

Dear readers!

This is the blog for the Project
on Oystercatcher - Bird of the Year 2008 in the Netherlands - at the Russian White Sea.

It will operate from 20 May to 20 August 2008 and will only be devoted to this great bird.

It is for purpose in English - for the international community. For the Russian audience similar blog, but with different contents, will be updated in Russian.
Great fun is that the birds - in this case Oystercatchers - but in fact many many more - spend autumn, winter and spring in Europe and North Africa, and in summer come to breed to the Russian North. Learning on birds migrating between the two countries often means learning on people that live there - in different nature, different lives, and with different attitude to birds as well. By telling you the stories of individually marked Oystercatchers born / colour-ringed at the White Sea or the Netherlands or elsewhere but relevant , and flying to breed at the Russian White Sea I hope to tell you more on this area and people also.
At the same time, learning the stories in Russian the readers in my country will be able to know on the birds wintering areas, and on the people that look at them and care for them when they are away from Russia. For obvious reasons the date of this post will stay as 20 August 2008, but all the posts below will be dated correctly.
Though the Project is mainly linked to the fact that it is the Bird of the Year 2008 - and Oystercatchers link our countries literally and also indirectly - the blog will be maintained in English for a larger audience, but also omdat mijn Nederlands nog niet zo goed is.
Welcome with comments and questions!

20 Mei 2008 (with the date of 20 August)

Pre-migration club of Oystercatchers

Summer here at the White Sea, that is above the Arctic Circle, is short. Birds that did not breed, or failed, already accumulate in a so called “club” – in one of the three known areas in Kandalaksha bay of the White Sea (all within the nature reserve). On the 24th I visited one of these, where in former years the big flock reached the total of 420 Oystercatchers. I still remember from those times the fascinating memorized “video” of how they altogether fly off at high tide, and in a synchronous move with intense piping circle over the islands, gaining altitude, and then at a certain moment when they are at least 300-400 meters high – go westwards and disappear in the distance over the mountains of the Kola Peninsula. Saw it only twice in all my 25+ years with Oystercatchers at the White Sea. Obviously that is the real migration move.
Well, we will hardly see it this year, but the visit to the “club” from low to high tide, when the birds so-to-say concentrate from the enormous intertidal area to few stones emerged above the sea at fill tide is in a way “a day of big hunt”. They all show their legs, and I can sit quitely in the primitive hide and read the numbers of those colour-ringed.

The total of this year in this club was 175 birds (but it is not the only club and birds redistribute between them). Looking at the site I regretfully realise that canon-netting for ringing hardly has a chance here...

Most beloved 2008 Oystercatcher family

They just grew up in front of our eyes - mean in front of the nature reserve house on Ryashkov island where we live. In full tide both parents and two chicks were walking to-and-back-along the-coast... Piping when "kids" from hydrobiology group interfered at the intertidal zone. Finding rescue from Herring Gulls at the same time.

Now they can fly, and in spite of the fact that sex of the chicks is still unknown - they got the names (A50-orange is Senechka and 80-blue is Ilya) - same as the names of boys from the local city of Kandalaksha who help here on the island to research staff and who helped also in catching the two grown up chicks here.

Ringing still continues, and in the coming days we will also visit the islands where the largest pre-migration flock gathers as well.

Visual greetings to Rob Lambeck

The birds on these photos taken today in Luvenga settlement coast were in the Dutch hands…

It was in 1991 and 1993 that Rob Lambeck started individual colour-ringing of the breeding White Sea Oystercatchers (which I largely took over and expanded since 1997 till now) – and it was really great to find today two of “his” birds. Bluegreen rings on bird E-1 remain absolutely perfect, and the other bird shall be traced through the records still (or recaptured next year) as it lost one ring, and only has worn-off “0” plastic ring besides the usual steel that I failed to read as it stayed far even for a telescope user. I still have to trace the life stories of these two 19+ - year birds (at least 2008-1993 =15 plus 4 years age of first breeding), as the ringing data for Rob’s birds are not currently with me.

Additional great fun today was that in the same flock of non-breeders (or failed breeders) in Luvenga we saw an A16-orange Oystercatcher that I have ringed myself in July 2002 as a chick on Bolshoy Lomnishny island (over 10 km distance across the sea).

Seems that later in July, when more birds join this flock before migration, it is worth to re-visit the area for another check on colour-ringed Oystercatchers!

P.S. On the second photo E-1 bird is the most left of the four; it is not possible to read the rings on the photo, but believe me they are in perfect quality still!

Some unringed and some unread...

Counts along the coastline of all the islands reveal the areas most and least favoured by Oystercatchers; besides I do my best to check all the legs of all the birds seen, looking for “my own” individually marked birds or for those coming from elsewhere.



Luckily the birds can be seen close-up even in smaller or larger clubs here – while at the Waddensea they are really rather far away even for the telescope user. Not many “strangers” here. So far the birds with Dutch rings were only seen on Devichya Luda island (called “ostrov Golyi” on the navigation map), and last year birds with BTO metal rings were also recorded on Kibrinskaya Northern island and on Bolshoy Lomnishny island. All the rest are locally ringed.Some of the rings become really untraceable – like the bird with a white-coloured ring on the photo.



Actually all the rings made as red-with-white code by Ecotone Polish company already lost the upper red layer and are extremely hard (if at all possible) to read. I thus continue to regret that I was not using only the very endurable Canadian Protouch company colour rings in the former years... And I can only assume that the white-ring bird on the photo is the same “former red A10” (read then in the good light in 2007) seen there last year. A10 “formerly red” was ringed on 7 July 2003 on Devichya Luda island, and seen in a flock of non-breeders in 2007 on Gorely island in the same spot where an “unread former red” was observed in 2008.

Eight year bond - pair and the territory

From Ryashkov island by the boat of Kandalaksha nature reserve for more than a week starting from 28 June counts were made on all the islands of the Northern Archipelago, Kandalaksha bay of the White Sea. In between we also were checking those islands where the Oystercatchers were ringed individually in the former years. Nice findings continued.



On the photo there is a pair of blue-CR-ringed Oystercatchers No.31-blue and No.35-blue – female and male respectively, that were ringed on 25 June 2001 on Lodeiny island as one pair. That year they were caught on the nest, and had three chicks, though it was then unknown how many of them survived. In most of the following years except 2004 (and also this year), there was a fox on this island, predating all the Oystercatcher nests, including the nests of this pair. Still at high tide the birds were recorded at their territory (at least in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007). Same happens in 2008 also.



Meanwhile in 2002 the 35-blue bird was flying 2 km distance to Ryashkov western coast for feeding at low tide – when disturbed there returning to Lodeiny. It actually proves the value of the territories here at the White Sea islands – the birds continue to stay on them and to defend them even if breeding attempts are insuccessful for a number of years.

Surveys from Belomorsk towards Poyakonda along the coasts of the White Sea

Connection via GPRS continues... We are now back to the Ryashkov island of Kandalaksha state nature reserve after one week travel by sailing boat from Belomorsk via Kuzova islands and the Kem’ scherres along the White Sea North Karelian coast (and islands) – also via the Kem-Ludy cluser of Kandalaksha state nature reserve, via the Chupa settlement, via Kartesh biological station of the Saint-Petersburg Zoological Institute and the Biological station of Moscow State University close to Poyakonda settlement.
The trip turned great – thanks also to the team and to the weather – for Oystercatcher counts along the sample coastline, but also for general wider impressions on the wildlife values of the White Sea coasts. Therefore in the Russian blog I rather highlight not the Oystercatchers but the Eider Somateria mollissima males – migrating to the Onega bay for moulting; Velvet Scoter males flocks, Goldeneye males staging site in Kuzokotskaya bay, fantastic Arctic Tern colonies on smaller islands there, mix of Bearded and Ringed and a bit of Greenland Seals on the sea and exposed at the coasts.


For a change – a flock of Eider duck males instead of Oystercatchers and one picture with a map of the so far the best Oystercatcher area distant from the Kandalaksha reserve – Kuzokotskaya bay. With only one difference – Oystercatchers there are all un-ringed (and wechecked almost all that we met).

First visit to the most Oystercatcher’ed island in the entire White Sea

10th June early morning we are there - at Devichya Luda island.



The tide is high and still going up, so all the birds with ID-colour rings are around the areas that are already “former breeding”. Within the first hour we find the tracks of a large fox (likely solitary male) on the sand at higher parts of intertidal area. Means this year Oystercatchers again flew to here for nothing – as we find out during the day later absolutely all their nests are already predated. On entire 2 by 0.5 km island that usually holds ca. 70-80 Eider nests, at least 30 Oystercacher nests, about a dozen Turnstone nests, a colony of 30+ pairs of Common Gulls, 7 to 10 Herring Gulls nests and a few other less numerous birds – there are now onle two nests of Arctic Terns, who are good defenders, and a single nest of Common Gulls that survives so far only because it is placed high up on a large boulder in the intertidal zone.

Nevertheless we make absolute success in finding ID-coloured birds. The major ringing effort here was taken in 2000 and in 2002 by Lena the only Oystercatcher ringer, and since then only the fledglings of local pairs were ringed. Also with individually distinguishable colour rings. Short update so far: number 09, 08 and 12 (now x2) blue are there – ringed in 2000 and still coming each year in spite of the fact that the last three years at least were unsuccessful. On the picture – 08 and (supposedly 12) x2 blue-ringed are together scaring away unmarked strangers.



Untill now 08 was paired with unringed bird, so was the 12th – but without the nest I cannot guess if they are indeed together now, or it it is only for the guarding of the area.



Most valuable are the ID-marked Oystercatchers that were ringed as grown up chicks. Poor quality of Polish (Ecotone) colour rings make it much more difficult to read. While the former juveniles ringed with Canadian rings (Protouch if I remember well) have their orange-black rings in a very good condition, all the Polish rings – red with white letters when initially – lost the red top layer and can be read only in the good sunshine when the letter/digits pressed into plastic can still be seen well.
We are still most hapy to find two of those at least (we saw more but count only those that are 100% read) – A06 orange and A33 “former red”. They are both born here on the adjacent island of Kurichek in 2004, and now here in the “club” on Devichya Luda.
In fact all individually marked Oystercatchers we saw stay in the sites they were ringed in 2000 and 2002 – in spite of the fact that breeding effort is already unsuccessul.



Additional nice finding – bird “C” (assumed LC but flew away before fully read - this is the right bird on the photo above) – that is the one ringed in winter of 2003 on the Dutch Schiermonnikoog! Waders prove connections.

First update from the Oystercatcher islands

On the night of 6-7th June we finally took the train from Moscow to Kandalaksha, and on the 8th arrived to this town in the NW corner of the Kandalaksha Bay, the White Sea. The islands here are not only protected as part of the Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve, but are also included in one of the first Russian designated Ramsar sites “The Kandalaksha Bay”.
On the picture you can see the islands at half-tide: the islands closer up are not strictly protected but are included in so called “tourist zone”, kind of the buffer areas for the nature reserve itself. Farther away the group of islands is where we work and live – there is a group of wardens and research staff houses on the larger island with the hill (Ryashkov), and the Oystercatchers are mainly breeding on the islands around and more to the south (left of Ryashkov). This is actually the “best Oystercatcher area” for not only entire Kandalaksha Bay, but for the whole White Sea.

On the 9th June we are transported to the main island – met there by the first A41-yellow Oystercatcher that was individually ringed last year and now has its nest at almost the same spot as last year in front of the houses of research staff, just 3 meters distance.

Obviously the viccinity of people is a safer place – elsewhere on the island the nests are predated by Red Fox and by corvids (Raven and Hooded Crow). Even the nest on unringed pair on the roof of the research staff house (so called White House) did not survive this year – predated before we arrived, and likely by a Raven. Still the breeding of previous 5 years on the roof gave its results – later on 9th June we found one of the offsprings of the “roof pair” – ringed in July 2007 as a chick and re-sighted on the same island this year for the first time ever (A35 formerly red ring, now almost completely worn off and hard to read).


Stories of 10th till today will follow – hopefully GPRS connection just from the island still permits to upload what we want.

Ringing process

That is how I look like when ringing "my" beloved Oystercatchers. The bird that was caught is placed in a very handy plastic tube (designed by the Dutch I acknowledge!), which makes it easy to weigh it, to put both the steel life-long and the plastic ring(s), and to measure all what has to be measured, except that the wing length is the last measurement before the release.

What cannot be clear from this photo, is that I am always talking quietly to the bird, murmuring nicely that it is cute, that there is no harm, that the nest is also safe, and that the rings will make it even more beautiful. Whether the talking or anything else helps, likely the other things than talking, but some Oystercatchers go back into the same trap within7 to 8 minutes after release! Sure then they have just to be released again with a story that they only need to be in the trap once in 5-7 years or even more, and that all the other times we see each other at good distance.

OK for them - certainly better and more safe, - and I can read the rings in the telescope.

Things start to develop!

Today got the print-run of our questionnaire - with the joint (from the Kandalaksha reserve and from myself) appeal to the local people living along the White Sea coast - to help with counts and other simple data-gathering on Oystercatcher, Common Crane, Feral Pigeon and House Sparrow. The latter three were added upon request from the nature reserve staff. I even objected at first - seems it could distract attention from "my" beloved Oystercatcher as the main 2008 target - but then understood additional positive reasons to have these three extra species also in. If a person replies from a village telling about Cranes and Sparrows, but giving zero numbers for Oystercatchers - there is a fair chance that Oystercatchers are indeed not there.
Thus tonight and tomorrow practice the direct mailing ;-) for birds and nature. Besides mailed leaflets also a number of local newspapers promised help to publicize the questionnaire - and for them extra stories are needed as well. And on Oystercatchers I can talk and write for hours - so that people share the great care and all other feelings towards these birds!
Meanwhile the questionnaire in Russian in pdf version can also be downloaded - this is mainly for tourist groups who are also most welcome to help. Link valid till end of June, to be prolonged later.
As some of you might know - we do not have a practice of volunteer/students birdwatching, neither we have a network of bird-friendly people along the White Sea coasts. Therefore I am really really curious what we get from this first ever try to get bird data from local rural White Sea people.

The first breeding Oystercatchers have arrived and start nesting

I am not yet at the White Sea myself, I am still preparing the questionnaires and other work that has to go in parallel, but as the staff of Kandalaksha Nature Reserve have already arrived at the islands they sent the news on the weather and late spring conditions, and also wrote that "the birds are already on the roof". This is a nice remark on the kind of "Adopted Family" of Oystercatchers that moved since 1998 when they bred nearby the houses to the roof of the research staff building. The reason is obvious - elsewhere on the main island there is almost total predation by Red Fox and Hooded Crow, and at the roof and in viccinity to humans - they are safe and already for at least four latest years manage to raise chicks successfully. In fact this year I hope to find at the islands some of their grown-up offsprings, which are individually ringed.
Research is research, but also for year I cannot get permit from the inhabitants of the house to set a trap and catch the breeding birds for individual ringing. Therefore everybody says "ours have arrived", and I am noting that "ours is not in fact confirmed".
Their neighbours, who were breeding something like 30 meters distance from the house, were not successful for years; last year at least I managed to ring one of the two birds. Hope this year also the pair with individually marked partner will arrive and be more practical in selecting the nesting place safer and closer to people.

On the individual ringing and rings

Certainly whatever bird is ringed by a scientist it must have obligatory a small metal ring, preferably life-lasting steel nowadays, that is reported be the ringer to the national Ringing Center and also shall be reported whenever a bird is re-captured or found dead. But these metal rings with small numbers are extremely hard if not impossible to be read from the distance. Therefore about forty-fifty years ago some smart ringers started to use additional light-weight colour plastic rings, and at least in the latest twenty years such plastic rings for rather large birds, such as Oystercatcher and larger, are numbered and coded individually. To avoid confusion between ringers, countries and colour-marking schemes there is also international coordination (for wader done in the British Trust for Ornithology). Since 2002, when a good set of individually numbered rings was made for the White Sea Oystercatchers with the Dutch KNIP funds, there are three types of colour rings legally used for individual colour-ringing of the White Sea Oystercatchers. On the first drawing all the schemes are shown in a symbolic way, and the photo below shows the rings themselves.
For some practical reasons in the last years I prefer to use the rings that are made in Canada (orange and yellow in the right or the blue below), they are thicker and proved to be more durable though there is yet little statistics to say it 100%.

The greatest advantage of these colour rings is that the individual code can be read at a distance. The latter in fact depends on the telescope and bins that are used; in the former times I sometimes needed 40 minutes to 1>5 hour to read a code with the x45 telescope, but currently with the good Zwarovski x60 it is really easy.

What I did not manage since last year is the close-up photography – so the individual birds cannot be “adopted” with the photo. And at the distance the rings look just like on the two photos below. But this year I hope to catch up on the “ID portraits” as well, so that the stories will be linked to well-seen numbers on the Oystercatcher legs on the photo.

Whenever you see an Oystercatcher or any other bird with such colour rings – please try to "read the rings" and note as much as possible (species, location and colour of rings and numbers/letters, location of metal ring etc.) – and please report it to the Ringing Center or similar agency in your country, usually it is 1 per country. Who knows, may be you have seen “my” White Sea Oystercatchers already not yet knowing it!

White Sea - the Map and what we want

Oystercatchers - the birds that I love - inhabit all the White Sea coasts, it is know as the most North-Eastern population. Thus the first story should not be on the birds, but primarily on their breeding area, the White Sea itself. Besides I will also tell you what we planned for those 90 days when they spend time breeding (hopefully successfully) or just going around at their native grounds.
I have planned three major activities. One is the basis for success - resightings and additional individual ringing of individually colour-marked birds. Bird № 21 BLUE born at the White Sea island and since 2003 "going around with the Dutch" - believe me you will love the full story! Also we plan to distribute a questionnaire to the coastal communities - so that public can reply with simple information on bird numbers in their areas. The best areas will then be checked by experts.
Looking at the map you see three colours - red, stupid-pink and green. In circles are red - activities will be the most steady, and besides public involvement experts will look for the CR-Oystercatchers and birds in general; here the bird counts are made professionally by a number of professional ornithologists in nature reserves and biological stations. Also here in the most NW red circle - all so far individulally ringed "local and others welcome" Oystercatchers were observed in Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve and nearby. Green are the areas for which we hope to get good replies from local people (to our questionnaires) and also from tourists visiting the area (from another type of questionnaires). Pinks is in between. At the moment I can be honest - I have no idea at all if it is worthwhile or not to explore it (the "pink area") specifically for Oystercatchers. We will find out within the first two weeks of June and act accordingly.

These are the plans. The former (1960s) population estimate for Oystercatchers at the White Sea was 1200 breeding pairs. What I am most curious - is what we get from the next-week questionnaires.