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FW: Urgent Request - Red Knot Survey

From:

"Zucker, Paul A."

Reply-To:

Maryland Birds & Birding

Date:

Wed, 2 Jun 2004 16:54:51 -0400

This is an issue of interest to all of us.

Paul Zucker

-----Original Message-----
From: redknot team [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 12:16 PM
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; Mike Shanahan
Subject: Urgent Request - Red Knot Survey


We are urgently requesting all observers/researchers working on the east
coast (Florida to Massachussetts) to survey known red knot areas today or
tomorrow if at all possible.   We are trying to understand what areas the
knots are presently using beside the Delaware Bay.

This is particularly critical because yesterday our team completed an aerial
survey of red knots on the Delaware Bay.  The baywide count of approx.
13,500 knots is lower than last year's peak count of 16,500 (which was 50%
lower than the 2002 peak count).

We surmized the reason for the last year's low peak count was the failure of
horseshoe crab spawning forced birds to go elsewhere.  However, this year
the spawn is the best we've seen in several years, the birds that are on the
Delaware Bay are gaining weight at the normal rate, but we're not seeing the
numbers of birds we would have expected.

We know the wintering population in South America has remained relatively
stable during the period February 2003 to February 2004 at approximately
30,000 knots.   With your assistance, we are trying to get a snapshot of how
the red knot population is distributed along the east coast.

Any information you may have on knot flocks (date, flock size, location)
prior to today is also very much appreciated and will help immensely.

Thanks very, very much for your assistance and please pass this along to
others who may be able to help.

Mandy Dey
Senior Biologist
NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife
Endangered and Nongame Species Program
609-465-8350 (Reed's Beach House)
609-744-8548 (Mobile)