In November, the days are short, cold and dark, and the meadow bird breeding grounds in Germany are deserted. This makes it a good time to follow the Black-tailed Godwits to their wintering grounds.
During their 14-day trip, Ulf Bauchinger and Andreas Barkow contacted various partners in The Gambia and met with representatives of the Ministry of Environment and the Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, among others, to plan the further implementation of the project. A local liaison officer is to be hired and options for implementing measures in the newly established Niumi Biosphere Reserve and at a former shrimp farm are to be examined.
Little is still known about the occurrence of Black-tailed Godwits and their habitat use in West African wintering grounds. The two biologists therefore also carried out intensive fieldwork and followed the last available coordinates of the Black-tailed Godwit ‘Werner’, which is carrying a GPS transmitter. ‘We were surprised at how structurally rich the tidal marshes are, where we were able to find the birds after often long excursions. The birds are also highly mobile and constantly changing their feeding and roosting sites. We hadn't expected that,’ Bauchinger noted in an initial report after the trip.
Over the next few weeks, the course will be set to analyse the data and soon develop proposals for concrete measures to improve habitats in the wintering area. The affected municipalities and their communities will then be involved in this process on site.
