Interesting track of a homeward-bound Icelandic Golden Plover (@tomasgunnarsson.bsky.social on Facebook).
Portugal to east England, then Netherlands & Orkney.
Caught up in flock heading to Europe and readjusted to head to Iceland?
#ornithology
Background: wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/w...

More Snipe news!
Very few Icelandic Snipe winter in England (wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/s...)
This tagged bird left Cornwall at 7pm on 13th April and arrived in Iceland 16 hours later.
Info from @tomasgunnarsson.bsky.social & @joseaalves.bsky.social
#ornithology

Snipe news!
1/4
Two Snipe tagged in Iceland by José Alves left Ireland at dusk on 5 April and reached Iceland 17 hours later. See map.
Averaging 80 and 87 km/h
@birdwatchireland.bsky.social
#ornithology

There is also a wadertales blog about this paper: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...

Icelandic waders race for space and opportunities in spring. New paper by Verónica Méndez et al. showing differences between long- and short-distance migrants.
#ornithology

Effects of Migration Distance on Shifting Migratory and Breeding Phenology in Waders
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Dunlin now VULNERABLE on Iceland's RED LIST.
One of the waders most impacted by new forestry plantations:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/06/18/i...
Over 50% of Europe's Dunlin nest in Iceland so recent declines are of concern to whole East Atlantic Flyway.
#ConservationScience🌍

Putting this in context:
About 75% of Europe's Whimbrel breed in Iceland.
Over 50% of Europe's Dunlin.
About 50% of Europe's Golden Plover.
About 20% of Europe's Redshank.
SCARY!
#ornithology

New Icelandic RED LIST (in Icelandic):
www.natt.is/is/frettir/2...
Country's populations of Dunlin, Golden Plover, Redshank and Whimbrel are now VULNERABLE (Threatened).
Blog in English about recent declines:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/i...
#ornithology

Lodgepole pine in Iceland: biomass gains cannot be interpreted without ecological costs. Response to Riege et al. - New Forests We respond to Riege et al. (New For 56:68, 2025), who present valuable new data on early biomass accumulation by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in Iceland. We argue that this finding cannot be evalua...

New response piece in New Forests by Wasowicz et al on using lodgepole pine in forestry in Iceland.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

At the end of every new road/track in Iceland is a new summer cottage, a tourist development, a newly planted forest or energy infrastructure.
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍

Effect of low‐traffic roads on abundance of ground‐nesting birds in sub‐Arctic habitats Roads are among the most widespread anthropogenic structures, and their presence can impact biodiversity in surrounding landscapes through disturbance and collision risk, particularly when traffic vo...

New paper in Journal of Avian Biology by Aldís E. Pálsdóttir et al on the effects of roads on waders and other open-habitat species in Iceland:

nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

We saw a colour-ringed Oystercatcher on West Sands, St Andrews, yesterday. @jengill.bsky.social
She nests on the 9th green at Selfoss Golf Club (Iceland).
St Andrews seems an appropriate winter home!
A blog abou c.r. project:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/o...
#BirdingScotland

Restoring peatland.
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍

1.5 million pairs of wader return to #Iceland each spring.
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍

Why track waders?
This blog has two aims – to share important scientific and conservation stories revealed through shorebird tracking work and to encourage scientists to make their data available via the Global Wader platform.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ornithology
Whimbrel tracks 👇

A juvenile wader/shorebird does not travel with its parents, so how does it establish its personal annual migration itinerary?
Black-tailed Godwit blog from 12 Sep 2024 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/09/12/j...
Paper by @tomasgunnarsson.bsky.social et al
#ornithology

Best bits of Iceland for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
New WaderTales blog - Number 150 🥳
Paper by Verónica Méndez et al
#ConservationScience🌍

New distribution models for Icelandic waders show how temperate to arctic species overlap across climatic and environmental gradients. Led by Dr. Verónica Méndez
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@wildlifebiology.bsky.social
#ornithology #waders #shorebirds #ConservationScience🌍

WaderTales blogs were read in 80 countries in May.
The most widely downloaded tale highlights some of the latest results from wader/shorebird tracking:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ConservationScience🌍
Map shows tracks of one Whimbrel monitored for several years by Camilo Carneiro et al

Spot the golden plover nest - is a good game.

Phalaropes are wonderfully tame.
#ornithology

Southern Iceland is the most important area in Europe for breeding Whimbrel. New study measures decline of nearly 50% in twelve years.
Blog:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/i...
Paper:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#ConservationScience🌍

Dunlin is the biggest loser in Southern Lowlands of Iceland.
Breeding numbers down 60% in eleven years.
Blog:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/i...
Paper (Aldís Pálsdóttir et al):
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
THREAD #ornithology

All is not well in the Southern Lowlands of Iceland - one of the most important wader breeding areas in Europe.
WaderTales blog:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/i...
Paper by Aldís Pálsdóttir et al in 'Bird Study':
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#ornithology

Spooky news just before spring migration.

"Serenade of a Whimbrel"
Also available as a blog:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/02/06/t...

New paper on population changes in common waders and passerines in Iceland's largest breeding area. Most populations are declining fast.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Following Black-tailed Godwits with rings, colour-rings and tracking.
New paper in @jappliedecology.bsky.social by @amigodeaves.bsky.social et al, summarised in WaderTales blog.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/01/09/h...
#ConservationScience🌏
Paper:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

New paper! @jappliedecology.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/3C5gYJp
We mapped out the migrations of over 10K ind ⚫-tailed godwits (!) to characterize connectivity between sites in Europe and Africa.
We compiled tracking data, ring recoveries and resightings: >400K records in total! (1/5)

Latest WaderTales blog focuses on the newly red-listed Broad-billed Sandpiper.
It lists all 16 waders/shorebirds that had their conservation status revised in the wrong direction:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/b...
#ornithology