over the years, the principal regular fieldwork areas of the VWSG include Swan Bay, Western Port, Anderson Inlet and Corner Inlet. Annual visits are made to Mud Islands in Port Phillip, south-eastern South Australia and King Island, Tasmania, as well as occasionally elsewhere. VWSG equipment and members usually form the core of the almost annual expeditions of the AWSG to north-west Western Australia. The average number of cannon-netting catches made by the VWSG is over 40 a year, with an average annual total of over 7000 waders processed. Principal species caught are red-necked stint, curlew sandpiper, sharp-tailed sandpiper, red knot, sanderling, double-banded plover, bar-tailed godwit, ruddy turnstone, pied oystercatcher and sooty oystercatcher. The main tern species studied are crested and Caspian terns, with other species studied opportunistically. Conservation Victoria lies at the southern end of the East Asian - Australasian Flyway, and the migratory waders that visit its shores breed in northern Asia and Alaska, passing through the densely populated and rapidly developing regions of eastern and south-eastern Asia on their journeys twice a year. Over the years the VWSG has been operating, the emphasis of fieldwork has evolved from simply obtaining biometric and moult data to understand the biology of the birds, to obtaining information on breeding success and survival rates to understand and monitor population levels in the flyway. Most migratory waders caught by the VWSG are fitted with colour-coded plastic leg-flags in a flyway-based program to determine the exact routes and staging areas used by the birds on migration. The group is also assisting with the satellite tracking of larger waders. References External links Victorian Wader Study Group 1979 establishments in Australia Ornithological organisations in Australia Nature conservation organisations based in Australia Organizations established in 1979