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By David Lawrie
(Chairman - Miranda Naturalists' Trust)
The link between the Bar-tailed
Godwit that arrive at Miranda each year, from their breeding
grounds in Alaska and Siberia, and those seen in Yellow Sea
region in China has recently been demonstrated in a very direct
fashion.
It has long been suspected that
the Bar-tailed godwit and Red knot that leave New Zealand
in March have travelled through the Yellow Sea region on their
journey to the north. Several birds banded in New Zealand
have been sighted around the Yellow Sea in April and May,
confirming this link.
In April 2002 David Melville
who lives in Nelson was invited to the Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve
in Liaoning Province in North East China, to train the local
reserve wardens in how to catch and band birds. During that
demonstration they caught 73 godwit and these were marked
with green and orange flags. This is a distinctive combination
of colours and easily visible to observers.
On 27 October 2002 one of these
birds was seen on the shellbanks at Miranda. Since that date
it has been seen on other occasions at Miranda and sometimes
on the shellbanks near Thames.
There have been sightings of other birds with that leg flag
combination in the Kaipara Harbour to the north of Auckland,
the Manukau Harbour in Auckland, one at Nelson and one at
Golden Bay, both at the top of the South Island. This makes
a total of 5 seen so far in New Zealand.
There have also been reports
of two others seen in Australia.
The high proportion of
the number of birds banded at Yalu Jiang and subsequently
seen in New Zealand has clearly established that area as a
very important stop over point for our New Zealand birds as
they travel to the breeding grounds. It is therefore very
essential that the coastal areas around the Yellow Sea are
protected. This provides an excellent reason for the Miranda
Naturalists' Trust and the Chinese Conservation Education
Trust to work together on projects and try to raise awareness
of the importance of that area in China.
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