The indefatigable team of Bruno Lima and Karina Ávila of Wader Quest Brasil / Projeto Aves Limícolas, recently attended an event in Ilha Comprida (Long Island – São Paulo) with the Ilha Comprida Bird watching Club (Clube de Observadores de Aves da Ilha Comprida COAIP), which paid for the cost of the transport of the couple to the venue.
They were very well received on the island and many schools and scout groups were involved in the event. After their success in closing the beach to vehicles in Peruíbe, Bruno and Karina are hopeful they will be able to repeat that on Ilha Comprida and also fight a development that would seriously compromise the habitat for the breeding and visiting wader in the region with the help and support of the local population. It is also hoped that soon the couple will be able to start their project monitoring the breeding American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliates and Collared Plovers Charadrius collaris and erect information boards giving information and guidance about the breeding birds to beach goers in this region which is popular with tourists.
Back in Peruíbe the stakes, which will be inserted on the beach to prevent vehicles driving on the sand, have been delivered. The use of these stakes will remove the need for the beaches to be monitored for illegal traffic use. These stakes are very strong and carry a guarantee of 17 years.
Bruno also recently appeared on television on the much-watched national channel TV Globo as part of the regional programme that was covering the events for Migratory Bird Day. There he described the typical waders that could be found and told of some of the problems they face with graphic footage of vehicles racing on the beach and a dog chasing birds.
The report ‘Beleza em Risco‘ can be seen here (in Portuguese). https://globoplay.globo.com/v/10557818/
COAIP have produced a small guide to the birds of Ilha Comprida called Passaporte das Aves or Passport to the Birds, which of course includes waders and other birds of the shore. It also has an information section where it refers to Wader Quest Brasil e o Projeto Aves Limícolas
Rather worryingly, a number of Red Knots have been found in the region in a very poor state of health. Our immediate concern was that of Bird Flu, but Patricia Gonzales, an eminent waderologist in Argentina, told Bruno and Karina that a number of birds were thought to have consumed something contaminated in Uruguay or southern Brasil making them very sick. The result was that the organisation caring for them is administering activated charcoal to combat the poisoning. It is hoped that they will recover and be released back into the wild at a later date.