MBP Newsletter November 2018

The MBP-core group is making preparations for next years’ World Migratory Bird Day.
World Migratory Bird Day is a two-day event annually held on the second weekend of May to highlight the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats.
The United Nations is one of the many organizations that support this global awareness campaign.
The theme for the 2019 event will be: “Pollution by plastics”.
We will prepare again two school exchange events by Skype-connection. One for the northern part in English and one for the southern part in French language.

So, please consider your possibilities to join in and send your interest and ideas to:
Connor Walsh (email: connor.walsh@wwt.org.uk).

The MBP Annual meeting 2019 will be held on 8–9 October at Slimbridge, in the UK.

This will be the tenth anniversary of MBP and Chris Rostron and Connor Walsh are looking forward to hosting you at the headquarters of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Over the coming months the MBP core group will prepare the programme for the meeting.

The centre at Slimbridge is adding new exhibits, including renovating the old study used by Sir Peter Scott, and Chris and Connor will schedule time for you to see some of the new attractions.

Address: WWT Slimbridge, Bowditch, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, GL2 7BT.

WWT (= Wetland & Wildlife Trust, UK)  is bringing high-schoolers to four countries to monitor climate change in wetlands.The project is called Biowet, and is happening with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, and four partners.

In mid-October the participating centres and schools met at WWT Martin Mere to plan the next three years.  The partners are in Norway: Randsfjord Museet and Dokka High School; UK: WWT Martin Mere; the Basque Country in Spain: Urdaibai Bird Centre; and Portugal: EVOA.The plan is that students will define the indicators, and go to each of the partner sites for a few days to learn and carry out their study. They will start with a visit to Martin Mere in early 2019, with visits to the other sites over the following two years.We hope to create a project that can expand beyond the current participating schools and centres and have a longer life as a pool of data and expertise for wetlands educators and the participating young people.
For more information please contact Connor Walsh, International Engagement Officer at WWT

Biowet organisers from across Europe at the Harrier Hide.

L–R: Edorta Unamuno, Urdaibai Bird Centre, Basque Country, Spain; Sandra Paiva, EVOA, Portugal; Connor Walsh, WWT; Chris Whitehead, WWT; Kitty Selj,and Anne Elisabeth Sjaheim both of Dokka High School, Norway; Alastair Brown, Randsfjord open-air museum, Norway.

The plan is that students will define the indicators, and go to each of the partner sites for a few days to learn and carry out their study. They will start with a visit to Martin Mere in early 2019, with visits to the other sites over the following two years.

Norwegian educators meet a volunteer at the Martin Mere Discovery Hide

We hope to create a project that can expand beyond the current participating schools and centres and have a longer life as a pool of data and expertise for wetlands educators and the participating young people.

Chris Whitehead from Martin Mere introduces the roundhouse village to visitors from a wetland centre in Portugal, and outdoor museum and high school
in Norway

For more information please contact Connor Walsh, International Engagement Officer at WWT.

The MBP Annual meeting 2019 will be held on 8–9 October at Slimbridge, in the UK.

This will be the tenth anniversary of MBP and Chris Rostron and Connor Walsh are looking forward to hosting you at the headquarters of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Over the coming months the MBP core group will prepare the programme for the meeting.

The centre at Slimbridge is adding new exhibits, including renovating the old study used by Sir Peter Scott, and Chris and Connor will schedule time for you to see some of the new attractions.

Update LIFE proposal (November 2018)

LIFE MiBIP project:
Migratory Birds and People; awareness raising and changing behaviour
The lead partner “Natuurpunt” (Belgium) for this project has received a rather disappointing conclusion from the European Commission regarding the submitted concept proposal for this project:

“Following evaluation on the basis of the award criteria, your Concept Note presented the minimum required quality level. However, I regret to inform you that in light of its place in the overall ranking and the financial resources available under the LIFE 2018 Call for Proposals for Action Grants, I cannot invite you to proceed with the elaboration of a Full Proposal.
Please note that the threshold for being invited to submit a Full Proposal was: - 38 points under the priority area Environmental Governance and Information”. (the score was 32 points – Ed.)

graphic of birds

So for the time being this project is on hold and further discussion will be necessary to conclude if there will be a new proposal for June next year.
If that is the case, there might be an opportunity for a member of our MBP-network to join as well.
It is a pity that so far not any MBP-participant has agreed to join the preparation of this Life-project.
We will keep you posted by the MBP-newsletter.

Roelof Heringa

  Finland

Hello and greetings from Liminka Bay, Finland!

We have had an excellent year in Liminka Bay. It was the hottest spring and summer in ages and we had more visitors than ever. The autumn season has been quite busy and a lot of school groups have visited our center.
Autumn migration is currently going on. Waders moved to south right after summer. Thousands of Cranes, Bean and Greylag Geese have already crossed over Liminka Bay. 25.9.2018 was the day this year, when almost 8000 Cranes left the Liminka Bay area. Now we still have Whooper Swans, a few Mute swans, Duck species, some Bean Geese, White-tailed Eagles and Peregrine Falcons.

We had also nice rarities in this season.A few Pink-footed Goose individuals have visited the area in Bean Geese flocks.

On the 23th of September a Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) had drifted to Liminka Bay for the first time.

Cinereous Vulture

This species has visited Finland only two times before. The bird was visible from the nearest tower of Liminka Bay Visitor Center. In the few days that the Vulture was in the area, a lot of birdwatchers came to see it from all over Finland, some also from Sweden. The Vulture stayed in open field areas near the bay, and left 25.9. to south.

With best regards,
Satu Aura
Liminka Bay Visitor Center, Metsähallitus, Nature services

satu.aura@metsa.fi
Liminka Bay Visitor Center
Rantakurvi 6
91900 Liminka
+358408321781
www.liminganlahti.fi
www.luontoon.fi
www.facebook.com/liminganlahti

 Norway

Deltatrips by boat

During August and September we completed 11 boattrips into the Nordre Øyeren delta and nature reserve with school children between the age of 12 and 15.

We recieved funding earlier in the year that made it possible to book a sightseeing boat (MS Øyeren) and bring students first hand into the delta.We brought binoculars for everyone so they would be able to see exactly what we saw and it seemed the students were very excited to go. We had sightings of Osprey, Canada geese, Common buzzard, Common crane, Grey heron and many more.

Children looking for birds in Nordre Øyeren nature reserve. Foto: Henning Flørenes

We also had the luxury of seeing a mother moose with her young crossing the shallow river in front of the boat which left a big impression on all of us. To sum up, the trips were very successful and for many students it was their first time visit to the delta. Hopefully they went home with a better understanding of just how beautiful this wetland area is.

 Autumn in the nature reserve Nordre Øyeren     

This autumn our nature interpreter guide has taken youth children out into the nature reserve looking at track signs from the beaver in the area and also using the nature surroundings as a classroom. They were given different tasks regarding how the ecosystem in the nature all is connected. All was carried out in a part of the nature reserve which is not that vulnerable.

Visitor centre wetland Nordre Øyeren have also engaged itself in building a new birdtower sometime during 2019. The old one has now been torn down and the new one will be a bit safer for everyone and a bit bigger. In the future we hope to bring lots of children to the place for birdwatching!

From the 26. of august until the 23. of September at least three individuals of Black-tailed Godwits has been seen regularly. Whether or not these are the same birds is difficult to say. Regarding Osprey, has a couple of birds inside the nature reserve successfully reared two chicks to fledging.  

Ruffs. Foto: Øyvind Møller

  Just outside the visitor centre we had a flock of ruffs counting as many as 75 individuals at the most and they visited our timber floating facility for a whole week

During that time they were much enjoyed by birdwatchers and our visitors by kayak. The species is an endangered species in Norway and the flock was the biggest recorded in the vicinity to the nature reserve Nordre Øyeren during this autumn.

Whooper Swans. Foto: Øystein Søbye

Trude Starholm,
Fetsund Lenser, Nordre Øyeren wetland centre

 Sweden

Naturum Tåkern visitor center just closed for the season, but is still open for schools and groups that booked a guided tour or a nature interpretation program.

Last week was autumn holidays with many activities in the Naturum, like nature theatre – how to become a bird, autumn adventure in the forest and two guided ‘Trout safaris’.
No, we don’t have trout in lake Tåkern, but in the big lake Vättern a few miles away. In late autumn big fish swim up in small streams to spawn. Best time to watch them is with a flashlight in the dark. Very exciting!

We also offered a small contest, Höst-Bingo (=Autumn-bingo), with a challenge to take pictures on nine specific motives in the visitor area outside of Naturum, and to win a small bird pin. 

Höstlovsbingo – take these photos and win a pin

Still, a lot of water birds rest on the lake. More and more Bean geese arrive from the north. Last week, two Great white egrets showed up in front of the center!
Maximum number of this new bird species of Lake Tåkern was 23 individuals on the 15^th of September! Naturum Tåkern does nature interpretation with almost hundred school groups every year.
This year we started a new project with money from the Tåkern Fund (Tåkernfonden) about “Children and birds that migrate” (Barn och fåglar som flyttar).

We have invited schools with very many children from other countries. We visit them at the school first, show pictures of the Naturum and the nature, talk about the visit, about Lake Tåkern and the birds resting here on their migration.
Then they come to us at Naturum Tåkern and take part of a specially planned nature interpretation day on birds and children that migrate.
We use both the exhibition with bird flyways on a globe, the MBP corner, the film, the live cam and we put needles on a map on the home countries of the children

We also go outdoors and visit the bird tower, walk the boardwalk through reedbeds, shore meadows and get close to the water. They get to learn how to use binoculars.
These schools are often situated in a town, with little or no nature close to the school. These children have very few opportunities to get into nature themselves.

Nature theatre with Shabnam – become a bird

Pictures by Malin Granlund Feldt

We wish to continue this project and apply for more funding.

Sweden

We have had a terrific summer at naturum Getterön with lots of visitors.

The visitors have especially enjoyed our new breeding bird species, the sand martin.

Last year we built a bank for them with certain type of sand.  The sand is 0–2 micrometer size range. The sand martins have been a success since the first pair arrived in the beginning of May. Between 15-20 pairs bred during summer and a few of them managed two broods. The bank is located 100 meters from naturum

Sand martin. Photo: Linnea Henriksson

The very warm summer brought a very nice insect to us, the hummingbird hawk-moth. Many naturum visitors got very excited about the “hummingbird”. A few times there were at least two of them, feeding from our butterfly-bushes.

This hawk-moth is uncommon in Sweden and usually is seen at certain years.

Last time there were many observations of this species, like this year, was in 2006.

Hummingbird hawk-moth Photo: Roelof Heringa

Getterön’s nature reserve have had a few great egrets visiting from time to time during late summer to autumn.

Currently there’s two here. We have also had the pleasure of having at least three pallid harriers, where particular one first-year female stayed for at least five days.

Pallid harrier, female. Photo: Linnea Henriksson

One of those days she was sitting just outside Naturum in the morning and nice pictures could be taken.

Linnea Henriksson
October – 2018  Naturum Getterön

 Sweden

In the south west of Sweden, in a beautifully rolling cultural landscape you find Hornborgasjön, one of the nation's most appreciated nature tourism destinations. The lake is surrounded by mighty plateau mountains and the hiking trails along the lake's shores are framed by huge moraine hills. See thousands of cranes gather here during their migration in March and April. Their annual dance is one of Sweden's most important sign of the springs arrival. The lake attracts a vast range of different bird species, all year round. For example, you can see red-necked grebe, black tern, white-tailed eagle and osprey

The year at Hornborgasjön is eventful and nuanced, there are always strong natural experiences to enjoy.
At Naturum ‘Hornborgasjön’ you can meet skilled staff in new fresh premises from March to October.

A renewal project that started back in 2014 is now completed. Naturum Hornborgasjön now has new premises, a new exhibition and a whole new house in connection; Doppingen (=the Grebe) has both café and auditorium, used by thousands of visitors each year.
In 2014 the annual visit rate was about 23.000 and now, 2018 it’s 60.000!

The new building “Doppingen” to the right and the Naturum ‘Hornborgasjön’ to the left, both architect-designed

The Naturum is now more than ever a place to connect to nature and learn more about the history of the lake with the help of a full-featured program of guided tours and theme days for both young and old.

One of the highlights of the year was the development of a VR (virtual Reality)- film together with Visit Hornborga (three of the local municipalities' tourist boards.

Children with VR glasses at Rutland Birdfair (UK).

The Naturum packed VR glasses, went national and participated at the Rutland bird fair in England.

Another well-appreciated feature has been our pram friendly guiding’s six Fridays this year.
It quickly became very popular peaking with 44 participators, which was more than enough. We can surely say that it was not very hard to end the week with happy babies and fried apples on the muurikka.

Tasty apple snack at pram friendly guiding’s.

Happy greetings from Mathilda and Sofie with staff at the Naturum Hornborgasjön!

Text: Mathilda Freij
Photos: Sofie Stålhand

 Denmark

Wading birds receive excess water from the highway

In the future, wading birds who breed at Kalvebod Fælled in Copenhagen will benefit from the rainwater and groundwater from the highway crossing Amager.

The 9 km long highway between Amager and Sweden is so low in the terrain that it is necessary to constantly drain the area along the road by means of pumps. The water quality has been examined before permission was given to use the water in the Natural Park. In addition to water from the highway, it is also clean groundwater as the road is under groundwater level. The clean drainage water has until now been poured directly into Copenhagen harbor, but thanks to cooperation between the Naturstyrelsen and Sund & Bælt , the drainage water together with the remaining rainwater from the landfills will be forwarded from the highway to the dry meadow on the Kalvebod Fælled.

Kalvebod Fælled is one of Zealand's most important wetlands and is known for its diversity, especially of ducklings and waders. The newborn chicks depend on available mud surfaces and puddles where they can find food.

For several years we have been looking for a way to get more natural water on the meadow. Wading birds are dependent on wet areas, and for most years it has been a problem that the wetland dries too quickly during spring in the bird's breeding season. The project will help to ensure optimal conditions for breeding waders, even in the years of low rainfall or large evaporation from the area during the spring months.

New wet areal at the central part of Kalvebod Fælled (in red circle)

Jes Aagaard

Biolog og Naturvejleder | Hovedstaden / +45 72 54 31 62 | +45 23 73 02 61 | jaa@nst.dk

   Denmark

Sept. 2018.

Currently, there are loads of starlings searching for food such as garden chafer larvae or crane fly larvae in the Ribe Marsh area.

When they arrive here they are about 60 grams heavy, but they need to reach a weight of approx. 90 grams be able to survive the last part of the migration to their wintering grounds in The Netherlands, Northern France or England.

It is a large part of the starlings takes the risky journey across the North Sea to England. Unfortunately, if you have not built up enough fat deposits before departing you risk not making it all the way to England.

This is a short story about four fatigued but lucky starlings that manage to find some rest at a drilling platform. They are, however, still not able to make the last part of the journey. Jan Hansen was a guest on one of our Black Sun tours, and he told us that when he worked on the North Sea he sent four stranded starlings in a shoe box home in a helicopter. Upon arrival the starlings were released and quickly went looking for some much-needed food. Unfortunately, the starlings were on their autumn migration so they would probably have preferred being released in England instead.The photo is a reconstruction of the rescue operation at the drilling platform

This autumn a UNESCO World Heritage conference took place in Palermo, Italy. 20 different World Heritage Centers had been asked to present their Visitor Center and share their experiences. The Wadden Sea and Wadden Sea Center (Vadehavscentret) were of course represented.
Three words can be used to describe the conference and a UNESCO World Heritage site: Preserve, Protect, Present. These three things are therefore also important in The Wadden Sea, and as it is one of the most unique natural areas in Denmark, Germany and The Netherlands it is important to preserve and protect it. Luckily there are also several visitor centers (including VADEHAVSCENTRET) along the coast, ready to present and inform visitors about the Wadden Sea.

Contact: Klaus Melbye Direktor Waddensea center Denmark

 Netherlands

Terschelling

Terschelling, is one big visitor center.The island of Terschelling is in itself a large visitor center. With a length of approximately 28 km and a width of 5 km the island has a wide variety of different landscapes. Wide beaches, dune valleys, heath, forest, polder and salt marshes dominate the island.

More than 80% of nature on the island is managed by Staatsbosbeheer. Mowing, maintenance walking and cycling paths, horse riding routs, flora and fauna monitors, forest management etc. are part of the activities

Terschelling has a total of 18 villages and hamlets and has about 4800 inhabitants. There are 5 primary schools, a secondary education and a Maritime University. The Brandaris (54m height) is the oldest working lighthouse in the Netherlands and is situated in West, the largest village.

Every year 500.000 people visit the island, especially in high season. During holidays visitors can undertake all sorts of activities. There are also various excursions to book with a warden. And if you like to go on your own, the island has more than 200 km of unpaved walking paths. You never get bored on Terschelling!

Despite the many opportunities to discover the Terschelling on your own, Staatsbosbeheer has a small visitor centre in the middle of the island: “De Natuurschuur”. The Natuurschuur is a cozy place where many hikers and cyclists like to stop to take a look, to get information about the island or just to have a conversation with a warden. De barn is open every afternoon from 1 to 5 pm during high season and is manned by many volunteers. Some volunteers are former employees of Staatsbosbeheer. Annually there are 15.000 to 18.000 visitors. In addition to all information that can be found there are also books, search cards and other gadgets for sale.

Every season the barn is decorated in a specific theme. This season is marked by the insects. There are also occasional exhibitions. This year there will be an exhibition about the Boschplaat, a nature reserve at the eastern side of the island.

The excursion-barn : “Natuurschuur” on Terschelling

In short, a nice place to visit and then curious to discover the island outside with the necessary information!

Greetings Feline and Wanda , Staatsbosbeheer Terschelling

Buitencentrum “Oostvaardersplassen”

 Vogelfestival Oostvaardersplassen

On Sunday the 16^th of September, the Oostvaardersplassen (Staatsbosbeheer) held its annual Birds Festival.

the Oostvaardersplassen (Staatsbosbeheer) bird festival

An estimated 1,500 bird and nature lovers came to enjoy nature, birds, workshops and lectures. Also for the children there were all kinds of fun nature activities organized.
The visitors had the opportunity to go on (walking) excursions, accompanied by a guide from Staatsbosbeheer.

Many people made use of this and could see the area from a closer distance with their own eyes, resulting in many enthusiastic reactions!

The various bird watching huts in the area were also very busy. Due to the drought of last summer, a number of ponds in the Oostvaardersplassen also fell partly dry.

The dry mudflats were a paradise for all kind of waders. Black-tailed godwits, golden plovers, avocets, lapwings, ruffs and other waders were often seen in large numbers. So the birdwatchers enjoyed it at its best.

Stilt avocet /
Photo by courtesy of Johannes Loupatty

Mikal Folkertsma, Staatsbosbeheer Oostvaardersplassen

Luxembourg

25^th Euro-BirdWatch @ Biodiversum

On October 6^st, BirdLife Luxembourg and nature center Biodiversum celebrated migratory Birds in Haff Réimech wetland. A major part of the exposition in the Biodiversum center is dedicated to birds and their migrations, a core theme of the Migratory Birds for People program.

More than 280 people attended and 60 children built their own nestbox, created birds with felt, made little bird feeders or tried to fish ducks (artificial one of course) in one of the ponds.

Organized visits to the nature reserve attracted lots of people where public bird ringing was organized. Apart from Reed Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, 3 Kingfishers were doubtless the star bird of the ringing activities. Luxembourg Nature-photographers exposed their newest photos, nature artists presented their work and of course, the local wines were tasty.

Mrs. Carole Dieschbourg, Environmental Minister, Michel Gloden, mayor of the commune of Schengen and Roby Biwer, president of natur&ëmwelt (BirdLife Luxembourg) attended the opening ceremony and took part to a visit Euro-Birdwatch was organized in more than 40 countries by BirdLife International and the 2018 event was the 25^th anniversary edition.

Patric Lorgé, Isabelle Zwick

www.biodiversum.lu

biodiversum@anf.etat.lu

 Belgium

Over the years, between 1998 and October 2018 (just 20 years) in the Zwin 137 different ringed spoonbills were registered.
And reading the coloured rings is becoming more and more popular. From two sites in the MBP-network we saw birds, which were ringed at these sites: Lac du Grand Lieu (F.) and the Boschplaat, Terschelling (NL).
Of course we received many other data from birds seen in the Zwin, which were also seen elsewhere along the East Atlantic Flyway.

Most of these birds were ringed in the Netherlands. We did not yet sorted out if spoonbills passing the Zwin were also spotted in other sites of the MBP-network.  But several birds were seen along the flyway. As the example shows from the Netherlands over Belgium, France, Spain all to Mauretania.

Maybe  we could inform  the network, when we receive life data from the ringing sites.When we see a spoonbill and it is for example previously registered in Urdaibai, we could give this information to Urdaibai, so they know ‘their’ bird is already in Belgium.

This can make nice stories for our visitors!

Leo de Clercq

Environmental Education

Zwin Natuur Park

www.zwin.be

 Belguim

Breeding birds in the Uitkerkse Polder in 2018 (abridged version)

 Meadow birds have not had an easy life in recent years: successive dry years and increasing disturbance put pressure on the populations. As far as drought is concerned, 2018 was still a windfall year, because it rained sufficiently several times in April and May. The real drought only started at the end of May. As a result, lakes and low-lying core areas remained suitable for the establishment of meadow birds for most of the breeding season. The water level in the ditches nevertheless remained sadly low again: to more than 2 metres below ground level.

2017 was also an extremely dry year. We then installed the first three solar panel pumps, which made it possible to push up those core areas. Some of the meadow birds that left the dry fields were then able to migrate there.

This year we placed 10 extra solar panel pumps for the breeding season, sponsored by Deme.
These have been partly successful, but they have not been able to prevent the numbers of important species such as black-tailed godwit, lapwing and avocet from decreasing further.

This has various causes, including the roughening of some plots, the expansion of reed vegetation and the increasing presence of foxes. In the autumn, the management team will make a thorough analysis of this and will discuss the necessary measures to be taken.

Most species of wading birds did not do well. Especially for lapwing and avocet, this is about halving earlier maxima. The only species that did remarkably well was the redshank (110 pairs). There were also a few avocets present, but we are sure that only two pairs have bred with certainty.

In ducks all species were present in higher numbers than last year. For several years now we have had the impression that coots are supplanting the moorhens.

There are some surprises for the songbirds. Among the real meadow birds among them, the high number of skylark is especially good news: 122 pairs, the highest number since 1990 and 23 more than last year.

The numbers of reed birds usually fluctuate.

Then we would like to mention some special cases: we counted 116 black-headed gulls, 7 common terns and a grebe on the islets in the clay pits, 12 blue herons in the colony on the eastern edge of the polder, 1 long-eared owl at the visitors' centre, 4 kestrels (the three young of the couple kestrel that nested in the nesting box at the visitors' centre were robbed from the nest by magpies), 1 marsh harrier and 1 buzzard. The latter is a newcomer that has been more numerous in recent years in winter, but normally does not breed in an open polder area.

Report by: Dirk Content, Geert Declercq, Franky Beidts, Filip Vanhee, John Van Gompel

Contact : Anneleen Lybeer

 France

For the second year, we have organized at the Marquenterre Park a milestone event to raise visitors' awareness of bird migration.Every morning for a week we welcome them ... with a coffee, surmounted by a blue sky which sees thousands of finches, thrushes, larks ...

Visitors end their heads to the sky, surprised to see that the finch he observes may come from Norway or some of the birds move in the middle of the night. The visit continues with the naturalist guide to the point of view which culminates the Bay of Somme

The field of vision is bigger and bigger birds are spotted, more easily, some fly ... slower. This is the case with jackdaws, pigeons, lapwings ... with a flash visit of a goshawk or kite.

The guide accompanies new budding birdwatchers to wetlands to discover water birds.

After 2 hours outside, the show ends with an exhibition on migration. It explains the threats, the exploits, the methods of counting, the recognition of the birds, their annual cycle ...

A morning rich in knowledge and sharing, waiting to look up to follow these messengers of the sky with remarkable feats in the name of their ... survival!

By Nathanaël Herrmann

 France

This year, the Grand-Lieu Lake Centre organized the annual meeting of the MBP. Following our discussions on World Migratory Bird Day, we are making available the action plan we have developed to prepare and celebrate this day.
Yours, Audrey Cadou

Contact : Olivier HUBERT (Directeur ) and Audrey CADOU (Ecologist)
La Maison du Lac de Grand-Lieu

www.maisondulacdegrandlieu.com
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 Spain

LOVE IS IN THE AIR?

In the spring, temperatures rise, there are more hours of light and our mood improves. We notice that we are more interested in going outdoors, getting closer to each other and, why not, looking for a new love.Nature is always a good mirror in which to look at ourselves and, when it comes to finding a partner, birds are a good source of inspiration. These are the techniques that some species use to keep their partners with their "open beaks" and fall on their legs, beware, they are infallible figures!

SHADOW HERE AND SHADOW THERE, MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP, MAKE-UP

Scientists at the Doñana Biological Station have discovered that flamenco do their make-up before the breeding season. Thus, using his beak as a brush, he coats the whiter feathers with a secretion he obtains from the uropiginal gland, located near his tail.
Their make-up consists of oil and pink paint, composed of pigments called carotenoids that they obtain with their diet based on a small shrimp called artemia. In this way, they manage to attract the attention of their partner during the courtship because, according to the researchers, pink flamingos are more attractive, they find a partner earlier and can choose the best site in the breeding colony

LET'S PUT ON THE GALA COSTUME

many birds, the arrival of spring is a good time to take their most beautiful feathered dresses out of the closet and exchange their discreet winter coats for a cooler and more attractive one.

Black-necked Grebe normal plumage

reproductive plumage

At the beginning of the courtship, the male tern offers the female a tasty gift: a freshly caught fish.

This shows that he is a great fisherman and provides her with an extra meal when she needs it most (when the eggs are being produced). If she accepts it, you'll be a couple for the rest of your life.

Video of the bridal parade between two small terns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q3w0JNZuys

TO DANCE

For the Grebe, the best way to choose a partner is to dance. During the courtship, they perform a beautiful choreography with neck and head movements that culminate in a synchronized dance on the water, celebrating that they have found someone with whom to start a new family.

Video of the court dance between two Grebes

IMPRESSIVE ACROBATICS

In raptors such as the golden eagle, the nuptial parade consists of a succession of high flights and flights by the male to impress his partner, sometimes reaching 160 km/h. Sometimes the female turns her back and presents her claws to the male.

Video of the parade between two golden eagles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koWpTZ8Jo-s

Photo by: Jerry Ting

 Contact : Teresa López Aledo, Dirección General de Medio Ambiente -Consejería de Presidencia de la Región de Murcia

  Mauritania

From the news bulletin of the Banc ‘d Arguin reserve: Strengthening the partnership with Waddensea

As part of the twinning between Banc d'Arguin National Park and the Wadden Sea (Waddensea), a BANP mission led by the Director of the BANP took part, at the invitation of the Secretary General of the Waddensea, in the margins of the trilateral government conference on the protection of the Wadden Sea, in the 4th meeting of the WaddenSea Development Committee held in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands.
The three countries concerned are Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The Director of the PNBA with the German, Dutch and Danish Ministers in charge of the Wadden Sea

During this visit, the Park mission made a presentation on the scientific and economic values of the Arguin Bank and its importance as a destination for waterbirds on the East Atlantic flyway. This communication received positive feedbak from all participants.On this occasion, the Director of the PNBA took stock of the progress made in the implementation of the joint PNBA/Wadden Sea Action Plan for the period 2017-2019.

In addition, the Director informed the delegations present of the Mauritanian Government's decision to organize an annual International Festival for the enhancement of the natural and cultural heritage of the Banc d'Arguin National Park, the first edition of which will be held before the end of 2018.

For more information: Lemhaba Ould YARBA (ouldyarba@yahoo.fr)

  Senegal

We welcome our new MBP-participant in Sénégal !          

Name of the organization: Kalissaye Ornithological Reserve (ROK)

Financial support: Direction des Parcs Nationaux du Sénégal, NGO Nature Communautés Développement (NCD), BirdLife, Wetlands International, RAMPAO

Number of staff: 4

The key goals of the centre:

Conservation of species and habitats / support for income-generating activities, environmental education, training of students in fruit plant production techniques, supervision and technical support for EIGs of women working in bachelorette salting, oyster farming, market gardening, etc.

ROK Team

The Kalissaye Ornithological Reserve covers an area of 220 ha.It is administratively located in the Ziguinchor Region, in the Bignona Department and in the commune of Kafountine (North-West of Casamance / Senegal).

The area includes various types of habitats, most of which are mangroves, oil palms, mudflats and water bodies. The reserve includes three main islets (Karonnes islands, Bliss islands and the small Kassa islands) on which 10 villages are located.

Contact: CENTRE D'EDUCATION DE KALISSAYE
Réserve ornithologique de Kalissaye (ROK)
MAME SANDEBEYA SADIO,
email: mamesandebeyasadio@gmail.com,
tél: 00221 33 994 45 46 ou 00221 77 379 18 04

Other MBP- network news

MBP and WLI at Ramsar COP13

Chris Rostron attended the thirteenth Ramsar Conference of the Parties (COP13) in Dubai from the 20th to the 27th of October.

The key aim was to highlight the role of wetland centres and their networks, including MBP, in delivering the Ramsar’s CEPA programme.  He also met with colleagues from wetland conservation initiatives across the world, and continued our positive contact with the Ramsar Secretariat.
Chris and colleagues held several side events on good practice in CEPA, the importance of culture in wetland conservation and gave a presentation on wetland centres at the Korean side event on environmental education.

WWT also had an exhibition booth, with promotional materials, and which allowed staff to promote wetland centres to delegates.
Whilst there, Chris met delegates from Mauritania and Senegal who were keen to get more involved in MBP Africa

Why and how to become a member of THE European Network for site managers.

 From 2017 to 2019, Eurosite commemorates 30 years of twinning and celebrates its 30th anniversary.
For this occasion, we offer new members a membership fee discount and existing members a chance to earn a discount on next year’s membership fee. Read more »

Eurosite offers its members a number of services, all of which create direct benefits for the members – we aim to save our members time and money, help them achieve their nature conservation goals, and facilitate their professional development.

• Profile raising: We provide an established platform for you to promote your work to the rest of our network, as well as to the wider European nature conservation community – allowing you to reach thousands of other sites managers.
• Information sharing: We share the most current and relevant information about nature site management and EU policy, saving you time and ensuring you remain up-to-date with the latest policy developments.
• Networking: At our Annual General Meeting you will be able to come together to network and share ideas with site managers from across Europe.
• Workshops: Every year we organise a programme of workshops and training activities based around the issues that matter to you. During our workshops members and other site managers share experiences and gain knowledge. Members are also entitled to a 20% discount on their workshop fee.
• Working Groups: We help our members to set up working groups on key topics. Our working groups run an annual programme of work including workshops.
• Brussels: We have an active presence in Brussels. We attend key events, such as Green Week, and participate in meetings of the European Commission’s Expert Group on the Management of Natura 2000 and the European Habitats Forum. Through these events and meetings we are able to advocate for site managers’ needs. We also provide members with feedback from these meetings.
• Twinning: We have over 25 years of experience in twinning nature sites. We help our members to find twinning partners, draft Twinning Agreements and ensure the smooth running of their twinning. Twinnings are a valuable opportunity for members to learn from organisations facing similar issues in other countries. Find out more about our Twinning Programme.
• Projects: We take part in projects that are aligned with our Vision & Mission and always involve members in these projects. We are currently taking part in the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process, which has benefitted our members, for example, through funding opportunities. We also help our members to find project partners from our extensive database of contacts.
• Best practice examples: Eurosite collects and showcases best practice examples from our members on a range of key topics.

Through collaboration and networking our members are able to exchange knowledge and experience. Whether they are visiting one another’s sites, sharing resources or attending a Eurosite workshop, our members are working together to benefit Europe’s nature ‘on the ground’.

Membership : Eurosite has members and associate members. What is the difference?

Members can only be legal persons who:
a. subscribe to Eurosite’s mission;
b. have the intention to participate in the activities of the association;
c. own or manage natural areas in Europe.

In the event that the mission of the applicant organisation is broader than Eurosite’s mission, then nature conservation and nature management must make up a significant part of the goals or the activities of the applicant organisation.

Associate members are natural persons or legal persons who are greatly interested in the work of Eurosite and who subscribe to the objectives of the association. Associate members are not members within the meaning of the law, seeing that they have no voting rights and they can thus not elect representatives for the Eurosite Council. The associate members furthermore have the same rights and obligations as do members.

Furthermore, it is possible to join the Eurosite network as an organisation as well as an individual. Download our membership fee levels 2017 to find the height of your fee. If you would like to receive more information, please contact us.

Eurosite

Postbus 90154 | 5000 LG Tilburg | The Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0)13 5944 400   // www.eurosite.org

The core group has a certificate available by which the participating visitor centre can show that they are a member of the `Migratory Birds for People`- network.

This certificate can be obtained for free.

Just write an email to  r.b.heringa@gmail.com

and we will send you a certificate.

We have created our own MBP-t-shirt.

(price: approx.. € 10,= / excl. mailing costs)

Please let me know if you are interested and send me your details about number and size.

You could also obtain your own MBP-mug.The price of this item is: approx.. € 5,= (excl. mailing costs)

Send your message to: r.b.heringa@gmail.com

Chris Rostron
(Head of Wetland Link International)

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT),Slimbridge, Glos GL2 7BT, UK

T: +44 (0)1453 891214   F: +44 (0)1453 890827  M: +44 (0)7906 564 641

Skype: Chris.Rostron1   E:chris.rostron@wwt.org.uk  W: wli.org.uk

Cy Griffin
(European Programme Manager
Wetlands International Headquarters),
Visiting address: Horapark 9 (2nd floor),
6717 LZ Ede, Nederlands
Postal address: Postbox 471, 6700 AL,wageningen

Office Tel: +31 318 660910, Cell: +32- 473785806
E-mail: cy.griffin@wetlands.org
Skype: cygriffin   Website: www.wetlands.org

Edorta Unamuno 

(Urdaibai Bird Centre)

B. Orueta, 7, 48314 Gautegiz-arteaga (Bizkaja),Spain
Tel: + 34 946251157
E: emunamuno@birdcenter.org

Abdoulaye Ndiaye,
Capacity Building Manager,
Wetlands International Africa.
Rue 111,.villa 39B-Zone B
BP:25581 DAKAR-FANN, Sénégal
T: +221-338691681

Kristijan Čivić
Network Development Manager

Eurosite,Reitseplein 6, 5037 AA Tilburg (NL)
Tel.:+31-13 594 4400

Email: kcivic@eurosite.org  E:(andiaye@wetlands-africa.org)

 Malin Granlund-Feldt,
Naturum Lake Tåkern,
Naturvårdsenheten Länsstyrelsen
Östergötland, Sweden
Östgötagatan 3, 581 86 Linköping
Tel: 46 (0) 10-2235389
Email:malin.granlund-feldt@lansstyrelsen.se

Genelt-Yanovskiy

Baltic Fund for Nature Of
St.Petersburg Naturalists Society

Universitetskaya emb. 7/9-11 ,Saint-Petersburg 199034,Russia

Phone: +7(812) 328 96 20

Email:eugene@bfn.org.ru     genelt.yanovskiy@gmail.com

Gabin Agblonon,
Rue 111,Villa No 39,
Zone B Dakar,Senegal
Phone: +221 33 869 16 81
Email: gagblonon@wetlands-africa.org

Audrey Cadou, 

La Maison du Grand Lac de Lieu,

Rue du Lac, 44830 Bouaye, France

Tel.: +33 2 28 25 19 07   Email: a.cadou@maisondulacdegrandlieu.com

Roelof Heringa  (Independent).

Nieuweweg 28, 7241 EV Lochem (NL)

Mob: +31-655306276   E-mail: r.b.heringa@gmail.com