Kane Brides 🦆
Senior Research Officer in the Conservation Evidence team at WWT. Working in wetland species recovery. Global Chair of IUCN Duck Specialist Group 🦆
🏳️🌈 All views my own.
- Picking a favourite wetland feels a bit like picking a favourite bird, let’s be honest, it's my main study site, the Ouse Washes 🦢💙 Big skies, winter floods, thousands of swans & a landscape that’s never quite the same twice. Chaotic, beautiful, dynamic and endlessly fascinating #WorldWetlandsDay
- #WorldWetlandsDay is a reminder that wetlands are cultural landscapes as much as ecological ones. The places I’ve worked - urban, farmed and remote - all exist because of generations of knowledge, care and coexistence. Protecting wetlands means valuing the people woven into them.
- One day a week a go into the office. My productivity is usually much poorer than when working from home.... mainly because of these outside my desk window 👀 #OfficeVibes
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- Honoured to attend the House of Lords today for the launch of a UK Action Plan for the Eurasian Curlew. A vital, evidence-based framework bringing together science, land management and policy to help halt and reverse the decline of one of the UK’s most iconic birds. Lots to be done!!
- Working under the cover of darkness, counting snoozing swans 🦢💤 #Ornithology
- Thank you to everyone who is out counting swans this weekend for the International Swan Census! I've had a great day in the Cambridgeshire Fens. I'm really looking forward to analysing the data & seeing the overall results! 🦢
- Out counting for the International Swan Census this weekend? Look out for colour-ringed swans. Sightings will help us assess the whereabouts of individuals but also to detect whether any major movement has occurred during the census period. Sightings to ring.ac #ornithology
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- 🦢 The International Swan Census is almost here – this weekend! We still have a few priority sites that need coverage. Please check the map & help us assess how well our Whooper & Bewick’s Swan populations are faring. Every count matters! 🙏 bto.org/gsmp-isc 📸 @tangrigg.bsky.social #Ornithology
- Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆📉Bewick's Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe are declining. Would you like to help us continue to monitor Bewick's (and Whooper Swans) through participating in the International Swan Census this weekend? See more information: www.bto.org/gsmp-isc
- 📉 Our new paper shows Bewick’s Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe have fallen to ~12,900 birds - a 56.7% decline since 1995, with further losses predicted by 2026 unless survival or breeding success improves. Flyway-wide conservation is urgent. 🦢 Download paper > tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... #Ornithology
- The next International Swan Census is almost here (17/18 Jan). Coverage is looking good, but there's a few small gaps. If you're able to help, please check the below map and get in touch with @webs-gsmp.bsky.social Birders on Mull, Skye, Orkney & Uists are needed in particular! Thank you!!
- Pinkies above the chimney pots! Apologies to all my colleagues who had to endure several mid-meeting pauses today so I could grab photos of migrating Pink-footed Geese from my desk… priorities! Streams of Pink-footed geese heading west over Manchester today.
- We can confirm these two Bewick's are now at WWT Slimbridge. Known as Clutton & Cameley, they arrived at Slimbridge on Christmas Day / Boxing Day. Clutton is a regular & Cameley is here for the first time @samodonnell25.bsky.social
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- Our latest paper in Wildfowl presents the most comprehensive assessment yet of micro-particle ingestion in wild geese. From 809 faecal samples across five species, 46.5% contained synthetic micro-particles, detected at every sampling location. Open access paper - tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... ⬇️
- Latest Greenland White-fronted Goose population estimate: 13,303. Now 13,302 (that we know of). I dread every ringing recovery that lands in my inbox - another bird lost to illegal shooting in Iceland. We can’t afford to lose any more. 📸David Dinsley
- 📉 Our new paper shows Bewick’s Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe have fallen to ~12,900 birds - a 56.7% decline since 1995, with further losses predicted by 2026 unless survival or breeding success improves. Flyway-wide conservation is urgent. 🦢 Download paper > tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... #Ornithology
- The International Swan Census is nearly here! UK coverage looks strong, but key Whooper/Bewick's sites still need volunteers for 17–18 Jan 26. If you can help, please reach out to @btobirds.bsky.social. Check map for vacant sites lnkd.in/eWqWm7GW Thanks to all who are taking part! Photo: Ben Andrew
- Big up to the team for working into the small hours last night 🌙We thermal-drone-imaged farm reservoirs across Fenland to better understand the role these vital, unprotected wetlands play for the Icelandic Whooper Swan population 🦢🌍 #Wetlands
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- This time, the washes were ready! 🦢✅ After a 570km U-turn north to Aberdeenshire, likely due to low water at the Ouse Washes, the same swan has migrated south again & arrived to restored, higher levels. A real-world example of landscape-scale habitat assessment by migratory birds.
- 🦢 What a swan’s 570km U-turn could tell us about water, wetlands, and a changing climate.... www.linkedin.com/posts/kane-b...
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- Out of office ✔️ Week of nocturnal surveys at the Ouse Washes to map how smaller wetlands support roosting Iceland Whooper Swans. Thermal tech + drones + GPS tracking = identifying key sites & backing landscape-scale wetland protection for migrants 🌍🦢 #Wetlands #Conservation #Ornithology
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- Arrived in Dongying at the opening ceremony of the 3rd International Birdwatching Season. I also enjoyed giving a Western perspective on swan monitoring & conservation at the 2nd International Symposium for Swan Conservation to delegates from China, Japan & Mongolia. #Ornithology
- Tonight I'll be sleeping soundly knowing a Grey Heron is watching over me...
- ✈️ On my way to Shanghai! Excited to work with the Chinese Academy of Sciences — giving lectures and developing new collaborative studies. Then to the 2nd International Symposium on Swan Conservation, sharing our latest results and connecting researchers across the East Asian–Australasian Flyway
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- We're now starting to get reports of dead Whooper Swans with rings. If you find a dead bird & feel comfortable doing so - check for rings using the below @btobirds.bsky.social advice 👇🏻 Collecting information on ringed birds helps better understand the impact on different age groups.
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- Please keep an eye open for dead & dying Whooper Swans (and other waterbirds), see thread below on how to report for possible sampling & please also report to @birdtrack.bsky.social so we can start to build a comprehensive picture of the spread 👇🏻
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- 🦢 What a swan’s 570km U-turn could tell us about water, wetlands, and a changing climate.... www.linkedin.com/posts/kane-b...
- A pretty depressing day counting sick & dead Whooper Swans. Avian influenza is within the population. Please report all dead birds for possible collection & testing. In 🏴, 🏴 & 🏴 this is Defra gov.uk/guidance/repor… Reporting to @birdtrack.bsky.social also helps with monitoring.
- I've been updating our collaborative #CootStudy database. I started the study 17 years ago & thanks to a network of bird ringers across Britain & Ireland we've now colour-marked 4,400 Coot & received over 13,000 re-sightings. Pretty cool for a bird you hardly see in flight! #Ornithology #BirdRinging
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- I'm excited to be leading the International Swan Census again in January 2026 for the Iceland Whoopers! Check out 👇🏻 to get involved & visit the vacant site map. Every record counts to understanding the bigger picture. #Monitoring
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