News

Today with the first light, a group of 19 spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) has reached the marshes of Gautegiz Arteaga in their prenuptial migration. Throughout the day they have been resting and feeding in the marsh and they clearly exhibited nuptial plumage with yellow tones in the chest and the classic ridge that usually show in breeding season.

Several of them showed rings and after reading them, one has been identified as "U5" a known and recurring visitor to the  wetlands of Gautegiz Arteaga, as it was observed on 17th and 18th of September 2011, as part of a group of 600 who stayed in the wetlands during the postnuptial migration. This group of 600 has been so far, the largest number of spoonbills observed in Urdaibai.

This group of spoonbills will be one of the first groups of prenuptial migrants arriving to the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands from mid February.