BTO Cymru

Croeso i blog BTO Cymru. Welcome to BTO Cymru's blog

Friday 15 November 2013

Where do you go to my lovely?

On Tuesday BTO ringers from the SCAN ringing group and RSPB staff at Ynys Hir caught and ringed 25 Barnacle geese from the increasing winter flock there.


Barnacle geese breed in Greenland and Svalbard with small populations in Finland and Denmark, a large proportion of these winter in Britain and Ireland. In addition, there are substantial feral populations in England.

The Dyfi birds arrive annually in early to mid-September and leave by early January we do not know where they come from or go to. Since the flock has increased in number and now numbers 300-400 birds it was felt  important to know if it was a new, wild wintering population or just feral birds.

 Of the 25 birds, 23 were adults and two were juveniles. Each was ringed and measured and had a special plastic colour ring added so that it could be easily identified in the field




 It is hoped that birdwatchers in the UK and across Europe will look out for these birds so that we can find out more about this beautiful bird.

Friday 8 November 2013

Long Service Awards

The unsung hero’s of the BTO are the dedicated network of regional reps, who are the main link between the scientific staff at Thetford and the volunteers on the ground. They do a tremendous job every year, motivating the volunteers to get involved with all the on-going surveys. Without this dedication, local knowledge, and sheer determination the volunteer network would not be the efficient machine it is today.
At the recent Welsh Ornithological Society conference two of Wales’s regional reps were presented with their long service awards.  Both Moira Convery, Ceredigion and Jerry Lewis,  Gwent have been in post now for 15 years, and a well-deserved thank you for their efforts.



Nigel Clarke BTO Thetford, Moira Convery, Kelvin Jones, Jerry Lewis