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As we’ve often heard in World on the Move, many migrants, especially birds, are creatures of habit, depending on key places along their migratory routes to feed and rest. But if something happens to interrupt their routine, not only individuals, but whole populations can be at risk.
Red knots are splendid brick-red wading birds, not much bigger than a plump starling, which each year, make a critically timed journey from South America right up into the Arctic to breed. They time their travels to feast on Crab eggs, in order to build up vital energy reserves. The Horseshoe Crabs, looking like upturned woks spawn in their hundreds of thousands at Delaware Bay between Washington and New York. It's a real spectacle - if you click on the picture of cameraman Barrie Britton you can drag it left and right to see the full 360 degree panoramic image of spawning Horseshoe Crabs.
A decade ago, they were hugely over-harvested by people using them for commercial fishing bait, and the Red Knot population fell by three quarters. This year, after some stiff controls on the Crab harvest, the numbers of eggs were recovering. But, as you can hear in the attached audio, just as the Red Knots arrived to feed on them, the weather bowled them an almighty googly.
Stephen Lyle from the BBC Natural History Unit was in Delaware Bay to film for a major new series called Life. He was working with scientists from the Delaware Shorebird Project - Kevin Kallaz and Nigel Clark.
All photographs by Barrie Britton.
Further Reading:
Stephen Lyle's last report: Panoramic image from Little Tobago Island