Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus Spói

Whimbrel were recorded in the survey area in two distinct peaks: from 3rd to 15th May; and19th July to 7th August. A peak count of 16 birds was recorded on 2nd August. Whimbrel showed a preference for the southernmost three subsites (Grjóteyrarklakkur (Est 1), Kistufjörđur (Est 2), and Flæðhöfðasker (Est 6)), and were recorded foraging when the sand and mudflats were exposed during low tide surveys and roosting on rising tide surveys. Whimbrel are common breeders within the Andakíll Ramsar site (Tierney & Tierney 2020).

Number of individuals 20 15 10 5 0 Low-tide Rising-tide

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Week number and month

Figure 3-78. Number of Numenius phaeopus recorded during weekly low tide and rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017.

Figure 3-79.Relative abundance of Numenius phaeopus during weekly (a) low tide and (b) rising tide estuarine surveys in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017. Dots are randomly positioned within each subsite. While each dot refers to a single bird, it refers to the bird’s presence in that subsite only, and not the bird’s actual location.

(a) Low tide (b) Rising tide

(a) Low tide (b) Rising tide

Figure 3-80. Proportion of foraging and roosting Numenius phaeopus during weekly (a) low tide and (b) rising tide estuarine surveys in six subsites in the Andakíll Ramsar site between 12th March and 25th October 2017.