Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

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WATLAS fieldwork

The Wadden Sea is an important and unique site for many shorebirds. With WATLAS we study how shorebirds move with the tide, on which intertidal mudflats they feed, and how long they stay in the Wadden Sea on their migratory journeys. From 2020 we have 26 receivers that allow tracking shorebirds in a large part of the western Dutch Wadden Sea in real-time. The WATLAS team will share their experiences and show what field work they do.

Catching as many knots as possible

Catching as many knots as possible

AUG 2021 | Read the diary Evy Gobbens kept about her fieldwork experience on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Dutch Wadden Sea.

Tracking Wadden Sea shorebirds

Tracking Wadden Sea shorebirds

JUL-OCT 2020 | An important aspect of the WATLAS fieldwork is constructing the temporary receivers on the mudflats before catching en tagging the birds.

What do red knots eat?

What do red knots eat?

AUG 2019 | Now it is August and along with the other shorebirds red knots arrived in the Wadden Sea after breeding in the Arctic.

Where do red knots go?

Where do red knots go?

DEC 2019 | The summer fieldwork is over and we are back to our offices with lots of data. In total, 256 red knots were colour ringed and tagged this season.