GERRITSEN GJ & TIJSEN W (2003) The importance of the Netherlands as staging area for Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa islandica during spring-migration in 2001 and 2002. LIMOSA 76 (3): 103-108.

Until the early 1990's, the Icelandic Blacktailed Godwit was a scarce and not very well known subspecies in the Netherlands. An investigation (1984-1992) showed an increase in the occurrence during spring migration in the Netherlands, to a maximum of 630 birds in 1992, of which most (460) used the mudflats of the Wadden Sea near Wieringen, Noord- Holland. Because both authors noticed a strong increase of the numbers of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit in their study areas (Table 1), they organised five spring-counts in the Netherlands at the most well known spring staging sites (29) of these subspecies in 2001. As the foot and mouth disease made it impossible to organise counts in some important areas in 2001, a more complete census was organised in spring 2002, with seven counts carried out at 44 sites.
      In spring 2001 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits were present on 72% of the sites during one or more counts. The maximum number (3015-3556) was counted in the weekend of 31 March/1 April. In March and April 2002 birds were seen at 98% of the counted sites, with a maximum (6758-9811) again during the weekend of 31 March/1 April. Regular counts at one of the key sites (Wadden Sea coast of Wieringen) show that almost 50% of the birds have arrived by mid March (Fig. 2).
      These totals show that at the peak of spring migration, 19-28% of the total population of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit used the Netherlands in 2002, which was a surprise and not documented before. In the last ten years, the Netherlands has become a major staging area during spring migration. Birds use wet freshwater grasslands along rivers and in polders, as well as mudflats along the Dutch Wadden Sea coast. Most birds use coastal areas but large numbers also use the forelands of the river IJssel (Fig. 1).
      Resightings of individually colour-marked birds allow estimation of residence time and site faithfulness. Along the river IJssel Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits stayed 13 days on average in spring with a maximum duration of 37 days. Interannual resightings of the same individuals were recorded both on Wieringen (up to seven subsequent years) and along the river IJssel (up to three years).

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