£1,000 in donations, thanks everyone!

Tonight we reached a milestone in our fundraising efforts. We reached the £1,000 mark. (Thanks to the mysterious 'Ken' and many more besides.)

Happy or what?
Photo: Peter Ericsson.

We put out an appeal a few days ago to get there after my brother David gave us £200 setting us up with a realistic chance of achieving this milestone. We were deeply disappointed not to have gone to Australia and New Zealand of course, but we have been warmed by people's generosity and the understanding shown to us by those we have disappointed in New Zealand and Australia, those who are following our every move in South Africa and everyone who is keeping tabs on us via this blog, twitter and facebook.

This has given us much joy and a determination to carry on. There is a still much to do, but what you all have done so far has been truly heartwarming. Thank you all once again - Rick and Elis Simpson.

Since the last blog about donations we can now add the following names to the Wader Quest Roll of Honour.

Peter and Jenny Sharland: Best wishes to Waderquest, WWT and the Spoonbilled Sandpiper.

Sue and Owen Oertli: All the best to Waderquest from your South African fan club!

Phil Gunson: On behalf of your South American fans, keep up the good work! All the best from Caracas.

Ken: Well done for raising £1000. So sorry that your adventure hasn't gone to plan - hope you can get back on track soon.

Here are the rest of the heroes once again. A very big thank you to you all!

Anonymous: Here's a start for you good luck!!
Red Knot.

Juha Honkala: A great challenge for a great cause! I hope 2013 will be successful for Spoon-billed Sandpiper and you two as well. Good luck Rick and Elis!
Terek Sandpiper.

Arthur Grosset: Good luck Rick and Elis. Looking forward to finding out how many species you manage to see
Eurasian Curlew.

Martin: Good Luck! I hope to see you protecting the Waders!
Short-billed Dowitcher.

Pawasut Chatmaleerat: Great, as a thai citizen it'd be great to see the last refuge of the waders protected.
Black-tailed Godwit.

Jeremy Minns: Good luck and I look forward to seeing Elis' photo of a spoonie.
Collared Plover.

John Thatcher:
Red-necked Stint.

Ruth Miller and Alan Davies: Good luck Wader Quest! We will be cheering you on. Alan and Ruth www.thebiggesttwitch.com
Purple Sandpiper.

Lee and Rachel: Wishing you the very best of luck with your Wader Quest. It's a great idea and we'll be checking out the blog regularly.
Sanderling.

Oliver Simms: Good luck. Looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Surfbird.

Chrissie: Very best of luck with your venture and look forward to reading about it.
Grey Plover.

Gyorgy Szimuly: I'm happy to donate your initiative even if this is a minor amount. It could be considerably more if many of us would donate.
White-faced Plover.

Olli Haukkovaara: I'm also happy to donate and I hope that Spoon-billed Sandpiper will survive from extinction. Keep up the good work Rick and Elis!
Red-wattled Lapwing.

Jeff Skrentny: Please accept this modest donation with hopes your work makes a difference soon enough. It remains a dream see a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the wild.
Black-winged Stilt.

Bruce Lombardo: Keep up the good work, Rick. I saw a spoonie once. He was a little lost on the east coast of the U.S. during migration. Please save them. Good luck!
White-tailed Lapwing.

Anonymous:
Common Redshank.

The Grey Phalarope family (Graham, Helly and Katie Horrocks): Good luck with the Quest.
Grey Phalarope.

Bill, Nancy and Robin: Cash donations
'Rocky' the Piping Plover and Western Sandpiper.

Dave and Norma Park: Thanks for your recent help with our trip to Brazil. Good luck with Waderquest.
Southern Lapwing.

Adrian and Pat Childs: Good luck with spoon-billed sandpiper quest. Pat & Adrian Childs.
White-rumped Sandpiper.

Sue Smith: Enjoyed your talk on Wader Quest and Spoonbill Conservation tonight at the San Diego Field Ornithologists' meeting. Good luck with WaderQuest.
Wandering Tattler.

Janice Nordenberg: Enjoyed meeting you in San Diego and learning about Wader Quest. I hope to see a Spoonie in Thailand when I visit there. Best wishes
Hudsonian Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit and the back end of a 'Western' Willet.

Ian Simpson: Best of luck with your spoonie quest Ric & Elis!! Cheers,
Sociable Lapwing.

David and Claire Simpson: Great work! Good luck with the Wader Quest!
Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Marc Hughes: Good to meet you at the P Sands. Good luck with the quest. My son, Aled is doing a talk on S-p sandpipers in school next week, inspired by your story.
Rock Sandpiper.