01 Jul 2013

Spoonies HQ

We arrived at the small Chukotka village of Meinypil’gyno, headquarters for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper recovery programme, early yesterday morning where members from the Birds Russia team thanked us for our efforts in searching for birds over the last few days. They too were disappointed that we hadn't found any new birds, but the information itself was important for them to hear. They appreciated the fact that we did collect a lot of useful data on habitat and other species however and guided us to two known Spoon-billed Sandpiper nest sites. There everyone in our group got great views of this amazing critically endangered bird. We had planned to return to the village this morning to enjoy a cultural performance and observe some of the many Gray Whales in the area, but a strong swell made the entrance to the lagoon too dangerous to cross, so we are continuing our journey north.