Dozens of dedicated birdwatchers flocked to the Island’s beaches, nature reserves and golf courses at the weekend to mark World Shorebirds Day.

Twenty-five members of Bermuda’s Audubon Society were kept busy on Saturday morning recording more than 250 shorebirds of 17 species.

“As well as giving members the opportunity to get to know about the migrant shorebirds that are passing through Bermuda at this time, it is also an opportunity to raise global public awareness about the conservation of, and research about, shorebirds,” said Audubon Society president Andrew Dobson.

“About half of the world’s shorebird populations are in decline and the rate of habitat loss is worse than ever before.

“Healthy populations of shorebirds mean healthy wetlands, something that thousands of human lives depend upon.”

Audubon Society members gathered early in the morning in St George’s and toured various sites across the Island, including beaches, dairies, golf courses, nature reserves and Devonshire Marsh.

Among the birds spotted were a semipalmated sandpiper in the East End, a white-rumped sandpiper at Devonshire Marsh and a greater yellowlegs at Port Royal Golf Course.

“World Shorebird Day has given people the opportunity to marvel about these great global navigators,” Mr Dobson said.

“Of particular note, we saw 18 American golden-plovers, a large shorebird which makes one of the longest migratory journeys of any shorebird. It breeds on the high Arctic tundra of Alaska and Canada and winters in the grasslands of central and southern South America.”

World Shorebirds Day, held annually on September 6, was launched to raise awareness for the need for species monitoring and research.

Birdwatchers from across the globe came together over the weekend to count populations as part of conservation and protection efforts.

Teams from more than 700 locations registered to count, according to World Shorebirds Day’s official website.

Shorebirds can be found everywhere, from the Antarctic and the Andes to the Himalayas. Not all are dependent on water and some even live in desert habitats.