The White Great Egret has been increasing in population on the Somerset Levels
Transcript
00:00 The first great white egret nest on the Avalon margin was back in 2012.
00:13 This year we have 48 active nests with approximately 51 chicks.
00:18 At West St. Maw this year we have more nests than ever.
00:21 We have four nests.
00:24 In previous years we have had one there, occasionally two, but only one being successful.
00:29 I believe the numbers are going up.
00:32 As the population across the Avalon marshes increases, those birds are fledging and moving
00:38 out into new territory, new areas.
00:41 So this is increasing nest size.
00:45 We've got one pretty large one and one medium sized one.
00:52 So we've popped them into here.
00:53 All the gear that we're using has been sanitised.
01:02 We're using Bavarian Country Friendly sanitiser and our hands as well.
01:11 So what we're doing is putting what we call a metal ring, which is BTO's British Trust
01:19 Ornithologist's ring, which has a unique number on it.
01:23 So at some time in the future, if it is found, or indeed if it's photographed, then that's
01:30 a unique number.
01:31 But additionally we've put plastic colour rings on and these are easily visible.
01:39 The metal ring goes on the tarsus, the lower part of the leg.
01:42 The colour ring goes on the tibia, the upper part.
01:46 That's much more easily visible as they're wading.
01:48 We have different sized rings for different birds.
01:49 This is what we call a size J.
01:52 And so that now can swivel.
01:56 It can move up and down freely.
01:58 There's no gap in there so it can't get caught on anything.
02:01 And that will be with the bird for the rest of its life.
02:06 This is the colour ring we're going to put on.
02:09 It's got a unique code.
02:10 This one is ACV.
02:11 Put it on the left leg here.
02:13 Yep.
02:14 These are quite tricky to put on because they're very stiff because they have to be durable.
02:20 Draw through.
02:30 Yep.
02:31 OK.
02:32 Swivel around 90 degrees.
02:34 I can't see anything at the moment.
02:37 OK.
02:38 OK.
02:39 OK.
02:40 Mm-hm.
02:42 Mm-hm.
02:43 So this is just plastic.
02:48 Just tease it a bit.
02:50 And then to make sure that it can't, I mean it won't come off, but just to make doubly sure,
02:55 we just glue along the joint of the colour ring.
02:58 So we've visited a nest which is built on a platform in the reeds.
03:09 It's belonging to a pair of great white egrets.
03:12 We've calculated the age of the chicks.
03:14 We've removed the chicks sailing up in a kayak from the nest.
03:18 We've withdrawn a bit from the nest.
03:20 We've put metal rings on, which has got a unique number, and a colour ring, which is
03:25 unique to the bird, on each bird.
03:28 We've weighed them.
03:29 We've taken feather samples for DNA, and then we've popped them back in the nest.
03:33 The difficult thing is calculating the timing because you only have a window between the
03:38 chicks being about 15 and 18 or 19 days old.
03:42 They have to be big enough to take the rings, but not so big that they will leave the nest,
03:46 which is what we don't want them to do.
03:48 They first nested here on the Avalon Marshes in 2012, which was the first time anywhere
03:52 in the UK, so it's quite an exciting species to be monitoring.
03:55 And since then, they've gradually built up.
03:57 So this year, at the moment, we've got 44 active nests, I think, out of 50-something,
04:03 55 or so, a few failed at early stages, which is what you expect.
04:08 So here on West Hay, we have four nests, this one which is a stand-alone nest, and three
04:14 others, which is the first time there have been as many as four nests on this reserve.
04:18 Overall, the breeding success here on the Avalon Marshes has been so significant that
04:22 these birds are now being sighted all over the country because their colour rings make
04:26 them very visible.
04:28 So I coordinate the project.
04:29 A lot of people send me in sightings.
04:31 We've had birds go to Scotland, to the Isle of Wight, to Wales, and to East Anglia.
04:35 We manage reedbeds on a habitat level.
04:43 So we manage them to become as diverse as they possibly can.
04:48 The same units where we have great whites nesting, we also have marsh, harrier, and
04:52 bitter.
04:53 So I think it demonstrates that our reedbed management and strategy in these units is
05:00 working well and being really diverse and favourable to a lot of these bird species.
05:04 I think the success of the great white eagret breeding population here on the Avalon Marshes
05:09 is a demonstration of the success of the partnership.
05:12 With over a couple thousand hectares of land under conservation management, reedbeds managed
05:18 at different successional stages, demonstrates across the landscape scale this really benefits
05:24 a wide array of species.
05:26 And I think this approach will only become more successful as time goes on.
05:30 [Music]