Day Four

May 16th

A repeat day. We go for another catch at the site used yesterday and set the net for a 9:0AM catch. Today the New Jersey marine fisheries council and some other VIPs had been invited to join us. A successful firing of the net occurred soon after 9AM with a large catch which disappointingly included few Red Knot. In the end we processed 66 (13) shorebirds with 6 Red Knot, 57(13) Ruddy Turnstone (but many were released unprocessed because we had already examined enough for our quota) and 3 Sanderling. It was windy but a screen had been erected to give us some shelter.

Preparing and waiting for the catch

Net set

Three, two, ONE - FIRE!

Settling after the catch

In the afternoon, with the wind increasing from the SW, Clive and I headed across to the Stone Harbor spit to meet up with the local ranger Chris Vogel. Chris was going to accompany us while we checked on the Red Knot roost at the late afternoon high tide. It was, to say the least, unpleasant at the point with the sand blowing in streams ahead of a strong sou'wester combining with an ominous looking dark sky that was inexorably creeping towards us from the NW. Heavy rain was forecast for this evening and so, eventually, without making much headway with any numbers of Red Knot we decided to beat a retreat before getting wet!

We learned a lot from Chris about the bird populations at the spit. He was amazingly enthusiastic and full of very useful local knowledge. Having worked overseas in many places including Bolivia and Vietnam and working for many years with the AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) he clearly brought a wealth of experience to his job as the Stone Harbor ranger. He would be joining us tomorrow evening to dinner.

Downwind sand streams at Stone Harbor spit

Clive and Chris Vogel in the distance at Stone Harbor spit

The gathering storm over Stone Harbor spit

Some weight-gain statistics including those of birds caught this year up to today.