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September 2017
News
August in the Three Brooks nature reserve By Sara Messenger, Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group
Swan ringing
Although we have in previous years wanted to ring our cygnets, we never managed to find a time when both the birds were present or the ringer’s first baby wasn’t making an appearance (welcome to young Freddie). So we were rather excited that this year it all seemed to be coming together, and mostly it did. The first flaw in our plan came when we discovered we were rather short on swan jackets, as it turned out that the three Robin had planned to borrow and the three Richard planned to borrow turned out to be the same three jackets! The second flaw was putting up a corral in knee-deep water. While the boys patiently waited for the birds to decide to all be in the corral at the same time, they
discovered that the silt at the bottom of the lake was less firm under foot than they thought and that they were now thigh-deep in water. It was at this point that the cry went up and we chose to just take the birds from the lake, only for the boys to discover that they were now stuck fast in the mud and, as their waders rapidly filled with cold water, they could only watch as three of the cygnets glided past. After that, everything went smoothly, the birds were remarkably unfazed by our attentions and the two adults and two cygnets were safely trussed up, checked over and weighed. Who knew that Ikea bags were perfect for this? (Although we’re hoping Gill remembered to wash it out before she used it
Swans and cygnets await the attention of the swan ringer
again.) None of the group has the required swan ringing licence, so that part of the evening was left to Richard, who works at WWT Slimbridge and wildlife expert and author Ed Drewitt. Richard also showed us how to determine which birds are male and which are female, which is a very hands on technique! As we’re very organised, the two males have their rings on their left legs and the two females on their right. The female cygnet has been named Lily, her name was chosen by young Olivia Hayes and the male cygnet has been named Angelo by our slightly older but no less charming Emma. I’d like to say “thank you” to everyone who helped out and to all the dog walkers who were happy to take the long way home to avoid stressing the birds while they were on land. Also to Les, who helped us try to persuade the other birds they too would like some bling.
No bread please!
Angelo was given his name because he is suffering from ‘angel wing’, a condition which mostly affects the left wing on young males and is usually caused by a poor bread-based diet. Angel wing starts with rapid growth of the wings, when the bone structure is not yet strong enough to support the weight of the new feather growth, which is heavy with blood. The wing feathers then start to fall outwards and end up growing out from the body rather than correctly folded onto the back. Angelo’s wing has the outer part of the wing twisted as well as the feathers, which means he may never be able to fly, while he is young. Unless he is attacked by a fox or a dog, this may not be too much of a problem, but when the time comes for him to fly the nest and he is unable to do so, it could prove fatal. Please, please, please can we ask that everyone stops feeding
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