Earlier this month several members (Rienk Fokkema, Jos Hooijmeijer, Renée Veenstra, and Michella Ligtelijn) of the Black-tailed Godwit team traveled to South Holland. Here, they were invited to give both the plenary lecture and a workshop.
The day was organized for a wide audience, including collectives, farmers, land managers, and volunteers working to protect farmland birds. This allowed the researchers to present the work, with its methods and preliminary results, to a mixed audience.
The day opened with a lecture given by Rienk, who told about the design of the Black-tailed Godwit Landscape Project (running from 2021-2025), in which the Black-tailed Godwit is central within the food web it is part of. This covered the topics of predation and food availability but also included demographic work and socioeconomic aspects. For these topics, Rienk gave a brief update on the work. What could not be missed were the dreams for the future; the Black-tailed Godwit Chick Landscape project. Here, there will be even more focus on chick survival and what currently are the limiting factors to protect this iconic bird species in the Netherlands. After the lecture, Rienk and Jos led the discussion. Visitors from various backgrounds felt free to share experiences and ask questions.
After the coffee break, the first workshops started, and as members of the Black-tailed Godwit team, we welcomed many visitors. With the help of many pictures and videos, Michella and Renée took them on a journey into the research area. Although the Netherlands is relatively small, there are differences in agricultural practices between South-West Friesland and South Holland. This provided a valuable opportunity to learn from each other. We discussed available food for both Black-tailed Godwit chicks and adults and how this is measured in the field. An important question that came up was what the birds end up eating. We were able to find this out using DNA analysis of faeces. In this way, the audience got an insight into what food is available and what a godwit ends up eating. The audience asked questions and contributed to the discussion, which gave them new insights regarding methods and results we use as researchers.
All this work requires a large team and this had not gone unnoticed by the visitors either. Several visitors expressed admiration for the scope of the research and the many aspects that were highlighted, as well as the longevity of the project.
