Glaslyn Whooper Swans

At Christmas 1972 a herd of 29 Whooper swans arrived at Portreuddyn farn, between Tremadog and Prenteg. Since then the herd has returned annually to various fields in the Glaslyn valley. They like the large open fields, frequently feeding very close to the main Prenteg to Llanfothen road, giving excellent views. Over the years the numbers have fluctuated peaking at 80 some years ago

Over the years a number of ringed birds have been present, with some like 2J34 returning for over 10 years. Most of these birds were originally ringed at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust reserve at Martin mere. with a few having been ringed in their native Iceland. The birds were fitted with conspicuous and easily read plastic rings so excellent histories of these birds are available. However in the last few years only a single ringed bird has been present with the herd




On Saturday 21st February SCAN ringing group changed this and a family party were neatly caught and fitted with both metal and plastic rings. The majority of this family were cygnets and should over the next 10 years hopefully give us a story of migration to rival the nearby nesting Ospreys.

Can anybody reading the rings please inform  the BTO Cymru office.