Kolkata: A lime-green leg tag has helped birders identify a critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper photographed at Bakkhali’s Kargil beach in South 24 Parganas as the same individual that was sighted along Bengal’s coast earlier this year.On Saturday, birders Arkajit Chakraborty, Animesh Das, Saptarshi Dasgupta and Anubhab Dutta photographed the bird at Kargil beach around 8.17 am. It was sighted again on Sunday, this time at Patibunia beach, around 1-2 km away.In 2026, the bird was first documented at Patibunia beach in late March and continued to be sighted there until June 1. Birders said the tag marked “2K” on its right leg helped establish that the individual photographed at Kargil beach was one of the two spoon-billed sandpipers recorded at Patibunia earlier this year.With this sighting, the number of individual spoon-billed sandpipers photographically recorded in Bengal remains three — one in 2018 and two in 2026.Sandip Das, a founder member of the Bengal-based Birdwatchers’ Society, clicked a spoon-billed sandpiper on Patibunia beach on March 29, but that bird did not have a tag. “Birders Soumya Aon and Kaustav Khan were also there with me. Two days later, Jayanta Manna was the first to click another spoon-billed sandpiper on the beach. This one had a lime green tag on right leg,” said Das, adding that the tag was crucial in identifying the individual on Saturday.Das was among birders such as Aon, Khan, Kanad Baidya and Sankha Mishra who spotted the tagged spoon-billed sandpiper at Patibunia on Sunday.The lime-green tag had earlier helped researchers trace the bird’s journey of around 8,000 km from Russia’s Chukotka region, where it was tagged on July 6 last year.Asked whether the bird had returned to its Russian breeding grounds, Das said it was unlikely, as the site was already occupied by breeding pairs. “We are in talks with global experts working on the conservation of the bird. It probably flew to its feeding grounds in Bangladesh and has now returned. A return to Russia is unlikely, as the breeding ground is already occupied by breeding pairs, which could lead to conflict,” he said.Birders have been surveying Patibunia and Kargil beaches every month to monitor the presence of waders and shorebirds along the coast.South 24 Parganas DFO Nisha Goswami said the dept was focusing on awareness, apart from protection, as the area is a non-forest zone. “Signages have been put up urging locals not to disturb the birdlife, and we have also stepped up patrolling,” she said.The species breeds in the Russian Far East and migrates to coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia. Its global population in the wild is estimated at fewer than 500. Habitat loss, disturbance and hunting along its migratory route have contributed to the species’ decline, making sightings and tracking data important for conservation efforts.
