Yesterday we mounted the final geolocator on a Red-necked Phalarope! We fitted 20 in total: 13 on males and 7 on females. Upon approaching the 20, it became increasingly difficult to find and capture new ones. Females have left by now, and the only two breeding males in the area that didn’t have a logger yet occupied extremely wet and inaccessible areas. Although I went into the marshy ponds as far as possible (wearing only shorts…), they won the game! Yesterday, there was suddenly a group of five males in the ‘big’ lake of Gelmetje; probably failed breeders. We captured three of them and surprisingly, one of them was already ringed as a chick in 2013 by Johannes. This adds to a growing number of recaptures of birds ringed as chicks in the same area.

Skua-wise the work is rather ‘stable’: we are checking the few chicks that are still around. We monitor their growth and in return they get some jewelry (a steel ring and a green colour ring). In Raurejaure we have only four chicks left, and singletons are in Gelmetje and Björkfjället. They are getting bigger and bigger and are around 200 grams already. Juvenile feathers are emerging but the wings are still stubby. See below for one of these beauties!