As the winter draws on, we are becoming increasingly reliant on direct observations (ring re-sightings) of our satellite-tagged birds as one-by-one their transmitters start to fail. But a few late fixes for migrating birds are still coming in, and several swans now in the UK (e.g. swan U5H on the isle of Lewis) still have functioning transmitters. Swan BV5, who was fitted with a tag at Kalfborgavatn in Iceland, tracked south across Iceland on 10 November then set off for Britain at some point after 18 November to reach Coll in northwest Scotland by 30 November. Also of interest was a move south within Iceland by Snow Cloud on 2 December, apparently in the process of migrating. As he’s a Welney winterer, we hope that his ring will be read at Welney before too long.

Meanwhile, we regret to report some sad news from Northern Ireland. Swan V4L, who completed his migration successfully on 18 November, was found dead at Puttock's Reserve on 26 November. The signs all indicate that he had been predated.