Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

I'm doing my bit to help save birds like the Spoon-billed Sandpiper - a bird whose global population has crashed to perhaps only 200 pairs over the last ten years.

 

Have a look the photos on this page and the video from far-east Russia.

 

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is under threat on its breeding grounds in the Russian far east, its wintering grounds in SE Asia and its migration stopover points along the Asian coastlines. It's not got much going for it!

 

I'm planning to climb the three British peaks - Snowden. Scafell and Ben Nevis - in 3 days later this month. My intention is to raise money to help a larger international effort involving Birdlife International, Hong Kong Birdwatching Society and the Oriental Bird Club to save these birds from extinction. Any money that you can give will go to funding research on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper's wintering grounds in the Sonadia region of Bangladesh.

 

I hope that you can spare a few quid to help save one of the most 'quirky' species of bird in the world!

 

Read on for more info on the Spoon-billed Sandpiper......

 

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is one of the world’s strangest-looking birds and certainly the weirdest wader. It is a small bird (14-16cm) with as its name suggests, a spoon-shaped bill. The species is listed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International because it has an extremely small population, which is getting smaller. This means that it is at real risk from extinction in the next few years.

 

Its numbers have declined dramatically over the last three decades due to problems throughout its range. Disturbance on its arctic breeding grounds, possibly made worse from climate change and the loss of important mud flats to feed on during its migration have all contributed to its precipitous current status. In recent years, hunting on its non-breeding grounds has also been shown to be impacting on this beautiful bird.

 

This species only breeds in north-eastern Russia. It migrates down the western Pacific coast through Russia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, to its main wintering grounds in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

 

Wintering birds have also been recorded from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, in the Fujian province of China, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It occurs regularly at only a few sites within this wintering range, with important countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

 

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So please dig deep and donate now.