The JournalStilt for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway AWSG Number 73-74 • November 2020 Australasian Wader Studies Group OFFICE BEARERS Chair: Alison Russell-French Email: [email protected] Vice Chair: Birgita Hansen Email: [email protected] Chair of Scientific Committee: Danny Rogers Email: [email protected] Editor: Imogen Warren Email: [email protected] Stilt Secretary: (Interim) Alison Russell-French ISSN 0726-1888 Email: [email protected] © AWSG Treasurer: (Interim) Birgita Hansen Email: [email protected] Conservation Officer: Steve Klose MISSION STATEMENT Email: [email protected] To ensure the future of waders and their habitats in INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Australia through research and conservation programmes and to encourage and assist similar programmes in the NEW ZEALAND rest of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. North Island: Adrian Riegen Email: [email protected] OBJECTIVES South Island: Rob Schuckard Email: [email protected] . Monitor wader populations through a programme of counting and banding in order to collect data on OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS changes on a local, national and international basis. Study the migrations of waders through a programme Robert Bush, Maureen Christie, Joris Driessen, of counting, banding, colour flagging, collection of Amelia Formby, Ken Gosbell, Chris Hassell, Roz biometric data and use of appropriate scientific Jessop, Marcel Klaassen, Amanda Lilleyman, Grace instruments. Maglio, Adrian Riegen and Dan Weller. Instigate and encourage other scientific studies of waders such as feeding and breeding studies. MEMBERSHIP OF THE AUSTRALASIAN . Communicate the results of these studies to a wide WADER STUDIES GROUP audience through its journal Stilt and membership newsletter the Tattler, other journals, the internet, the Membership of the AWSG is open to anyone interested media, conferences and lectures. in the conservation and research of waders (shorebirds) . Formulate and promote policies for the conservation in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Members of waders and their habitat, and to make available receive the annual bulletin Stilt, and the quarterly information to local and national governmental newsletter Tattler. conservation bodies and other organisations to encourage and assist them in pursuing this objective. Please direct all membership enquiries to the . Actively participate in flyway wide and international Membership Manager at BirdLife Australia, Suite 2- forums to promote sound conservation policies for 05, 60 Leicester St, Carlton Vic 3053, AUSTRALIA. waders. Ph: 1300 730 075, fax: (03) 9347 9323 . Encourage and promote the involvement of a large Email: [email protected] band of amateurs, as well as professionals, to achieve Annual Subscriptions: Australia & New Zealand A$40.00 these objectives. Overseas A$40.00 Institutions A$40.00 Published in November 2020 AWSG WEB SITE: awsg.org.au Cover Illustration: Annie Rogers. Stilt 73-74 (2020) EDITORIAL Island of New Zealand. A fascination with the incredible bird history of New Zealand sparked a Welcome to the combined 2019 and 2020 edition photographic interest and then a passion for waders of Stilt. As all our contributors, editors, reviewers - I didn’t move to the Manawatu Estuary by and production team are volunteers, it can be accident! I can usually be found lying in the mud difficult to put together this journal and I would in the summer months as it is a great place to like to thank everyone for their patience with the photograph waders without disturbing them. delay of the 2019 edition. I am delighted to be involved with the AWSG I would especially like to acknowledge and and I look forward to working with other thank Dr Birgita Hansen who has had multiple passionate people. Dr Judit Szabo is our Scientific roles within the AWSG in recent years including Editor and she will take a lead role in ensuring our editing the Stilt journal. She has established an procedures are robust and we maintain our editorial board of experts who review and edit reputation as a leading scientific journal. manuscripts from contributors. As the incoming Lastly, I would like to thank all our editor I am in awe of her organisational skills and contributors, without whom we would not exist. I wide range of knowledge. would like to encourage past contributors and new On behalf of the Stilt editorial team, I would ones to get in touch with me to see how we can also like to thank the outgoing Stilt editor Greg continue Birgita’s work in improving the journal Kerr for his contribution. Greg was Stilt Editor and expanding our readership. from 2015 (issue 68) to 2019 (issue 72), and Greg managed many of the articles that appear in this Enjoy this 2019-2020 edition. combined issue. I am a primary school teacher by trade based at Imogen Warren a RAMSAR site on the west coast of the North Editor Bar-tailed Godwit, Foxton Beach, New Zealand, 18/03/2018 (Photo credits: Imogen Warren). 1 Stilt 73-74 (2020) DR CLIVE DUDLEY THOMAS MINTON, AM, (7/10/1934 – 6/11/2019) Dr Clive Minton, described as a father figure in global wader studies, was killed in a car crash on the 6 November 2019 at Dunkeld in Victoria, Australia. His wife Pat and a family friend were travelling with him at the time and were seriously injured although now in recovery. They were all returning from a short holiday on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Clive was a British and Australian metallurgist, administrator, management consultant and amateur ornithologist. Born in England, he attended Oundle School and went on to complete a degree in Metallurgy and a PhD at the University of Cambridge. Clive was fascinated by birds from his early childhood. He quickly became an outstanding amateur ornithologist with an international reputation. Although involved in studies of various species of birds, his main focus was the migratory waders. He became the founding chairman of the Wash Wader Ringing Group (founded in 1959) and was associated with development of cannon- netting, as a means of catching large numbers of waders for banding and demographic studies. The Group’s first catch using the cannon net was in 1967. Clive Minton moved to Australia as managing director of Imperial Metal Industries Australia in Melbourne, Victoria. There, he revitalised wader studies, in large part through the introduction of cannon-netting to the Victorian Wader Study Group (VWSG), which became one of the most active banding groups in the world. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Broome Bird Observatory and was an active member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union (RAOU), serving on its Research Committee 1980–1988 and as vice-president of the RAOU from 1989–1995. In 1980-81 the Australian Wader Studies Group was formed as a special interest group of the then RAOU, (now BirdLife Australia) and Clive was elected as the inaugural Chair. Clive continued in this role into the 1990s when he convinced the late Mark Barter to take on the role of Chair. Clive continued to be a key committee member and actively contributed to the work of the AWSG Committee for 39 years! Clive Minton was one of the great movers and shakers of shorebird research in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) and other flyways over many decades. His interests were diverse; he was a champion of shorebird monitoring, for example leading the first complete count of shorebirds in north-western Australia and co-leading the monitoring of Corner Inlet (Victoria’s premier shorebird site) for nearly 40 years. However, he is best remembered for studies involving the capture, banding and release of shorebirds. Clive was the key initiator of the North-west Australia Shorebird Expeditions and, from the early 1980s, Clive led regular, almost annual, wader study expeditions to north-west Australia to catch and study the waders that migrate to and through the coastal strip between Roebuck Bay near Broome, Eighty Mile Beach and Port Hedland in the southern section of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway. 2 Stilt 73-74 (2020) The field work from these expeditions dramatically In 2003, British ornithologist Andrew Whittaker increased knowledge of the importance of Roebuck Bay commemorated Clive Minton in the species epithet of the and Eighty Mile Beach as key non-breeding habitat of Cryptic Forest Falcon Micrastur mintoni. many species of migratory shorebirds. These expeditions, Even these awards do not fully demonstrate Clive’s along with data collected in south-eastern Australia by the impact. He published or co-authored many scientific VWSG, have led to major governmental conservation publications, an even larger number of less formal reports initiatives along the Flyway, including the Japan Australia and newsletter articles to share knowledge with the teams Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA), the China Australia and volunteers he loved to work with, and probably even Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA) and recognition of more emails and letters hounding people into action! His Roebuck Bay as a Site of International Importance in the memory was extraordinary, and it is impossible to list all EAAF network of sites. the projects that benefited from Clive’s advice and ability This work has continued annually or biannually for to recall related research or workers that could be helpful. over 35 years and, through Clive’s active encouragement, Above all he inspired multiple generations to take up has involved many people from Asia and Europe. It ‘shorebirding’ as their passion or their career. His impact provided inspiration to young shorebird conservationists on shorebird research and conservation worldwide defies in Australasia and other countries along the EAA Flyway. measurement. It has led to the development of the largest morphometric Clive will always be remembered as a larger than life and movement data set for migratory shorebirds in the presence, generous with sharing his knowledge and EAA Flyway.