Can I see some ID please?

Many birds at Stapeley are fitted with BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) rings prior to their release.  The scheme enables information to be gathered on population trends, migration, longevity and survival via keen bird watchers and researchers around the UK and overseas.  For Stapeley, returning information helps us to monitor former patient’s survival in the wild.

   

Today I observed supervisor Andrew Smith fitting some of our swans with individually identifiable rings and taking measurements – all of which will be added to the main BTO database.  They were additionally fitted with a thicker coloured Darvic ring which allows them to be identified by observers from a distance in the field with minimal disturbance (swans also do not like being asked for ID!).

 

One case I am keen to hear about is one of the females we rung - due to her inexperience she had found herself stuck in pond ice but was luckily uninjured.  Now she is a good weight she will be released and support fed with three others at a private site, they will be free to fly away when they wish.  It would be great to get an update one day soon saying that she had paired up and produced some offspring.

Supporters of Stapeley Grange