Recent reports indicate that many of our waders are on the move north to
their breeding grounds near the Arctic Circle. Many will use the Yellow Sea
tidal mudflats to rest & recuperate on their long journeys. Both China since
1970, and Korea have been reclaiming many hundreds of square kms of the
Yellow Sea. The loss of these prime tidal mudflats is blamed for
contributing to the dramatic drop in wader numbers (refer eg to
http://www.birdlife.org/asia/news/reclamation-yellow-sea-causing-serious-dec
lines-migratory-shorebirds). The reclamations continue. Accurate data is
limited. A number of Australian volunteers have been helping gather data in
China and they must be commended. Some dedicated Chinese are also involved.
I was recently fortunate to go with Zhang Lin and his colleague on a bird
survey along the coast just north of Shanghai. It is amazing to see the
amount of reclamation that has already occurred. Zhang Lin is doing a great
data-gathering job. He also is a great bird guide and I would recommend him
to anyone looking for a bird guide in the Shanghai area. He can be
contacted at
Cheers,
Bob Sothman
Adelaide
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