On 26-29^th September in Haapsalu (Estonia) Natura International Poland had the opportunity to present parts of the outcome of the great snipe conservation project at the 44^th International Wader Study Group meeting. Results of the studies employing telemetry and aimed at evaluating habitat selectivity of great snipes demonstrated, among others, that males of this species can move between lekking sites as far as 70 km within one night.

One of the most mobile individuals was present in at least 5 different lekking sites during one season, whereas another one visited at least 3 lekking sites in one night. Such a broad within-season dispersion has never been observed in this species before, and it sheds new light on the reproductive strategy of great snipes, as well as on its habitat conservation. This last issue is of particular importance for the realization of the project. Nearly 40 contributions concerning ecology of various waders have been presented during the conference, but particularly rich in envents relevant to our project was the workshop which took place on the last day of the meeting, and this year was entirely devoted to the threats and conservation of wading birds in meadow habitats in Europe.

More on IWSG, as well as on the meeting, can be found at:

http://www.waderstudygroup.org