Last week, researchers for WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre have managed to GPS tag 9 Pink-footed Geese to get a better understanding of their migration and breeding habits. This is the first time that WWT Martin Mere has successfully put transmitters on Pink-footed geese.



It is obviously hard to catch a bird that can fly away at the whiff of a human but us conservations are canny folk and since the 1960’s have been using a process called cannon netting. This involves firing a large net over the flock of birds. Once the birds are caught we take some measurements and put the all-important GPS collars on. These GPS collars will send the locations of the birds via mobile phone signal to which will allow us to plot it on a map. It will give accurate information on their roosting sites, feeding area but more importantly their migration roots and breeding grounds in Iceland.

Reserve Manager, Tom Clare, said: “at first glance these collars can look quite intrusive on the bird, but years of research and experience have shown that the birds can move around as normal and they don’t impact their way of life and the data we get is invaluable. Soon there will be a web page where you can view the Pink-footed Geese locations, please keep an eye on our web page for further information.”

In other news at the centre, Martin Mere has seen the return of one of our most sigrunnfamous Whooper swans: Sigrunn (X4H), seen during the feed last Friday. In 2009,Sigrunn was one of the swans chosen to be fitted with a transmitter to learn about where swans go and how long it takes for them to get here. However in 2010, Sigrunn lost the GPS tracker it was found beside the house by the mere. The name Sigrunn is Icelandic and means ‘Victory’. His migration in 2009 was: Set off from Martin Mere on 4 March 2009; Reached southern Scotland on 5 March at 10am; Stopped in Western Scotland on 6 March at 10am; Attempted to go out to sea on 7 March, but he had to turn back due to bad weather; Situated on Western Isles on 8 March, waiting for good weather; Set off on 9 March, arriving on 10 March at 10pm in Iceland and time for a well earned rest and drink. 550 miles in less than 24 hours.

Tom continues: “Ringing the swans give us a huge insight into their lives. You can come along to the daily feeds at 3pm and 3.30pm to see if you can spot Sigrunn.”

'Reserve Manager, Tom Clare, said: “at first glance these collars can look quite intrusive on the bird, but years of research and experience have shown that the birds can move around as normal and they don’t impact their way of life and the data we get is invaluable'

Tom, respectfully, would you like a transmitter strapped to your neck for a couple of months?