See also:
Wildlife (2008) page
Water quality page
The stories of the resident swans
Information from the Lothians and Fife Swan and Goose Study Group, September 2008:
The birds on the canal in Edinburgh have rings on their legs which allow for their easy identification as follows:-
Viewforth/Leamington pair
JXC cob green (metal ring W04205)/JUJ pen green (metal ring Z80561).
JXC green was ringed as a male cygnet at Dalmahoy Golf Course Pond on 25th August 2001. He moved around various Edinburgh sites and moulted at Musselburgh in summer 2002 and 2003 before breeding on the Union Canal at Harrison Park with green IAH in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 when IAH died. He paired with JUJ in 2008. His original ring was green FLC which was replaced with green JXC at Harrison Park on 12th August 2007.
JUJ green was ringed as a female cygnet on the Union Canal at Kingsknowe on 15th August 1993 (hatched at Viewforth) - so she is quite an old bird now. She has bred on the canal most years since 1996 - JXC is her 4th mate in that time. Her original ring was white LFP, re-ringed green ILP at Harrison Park on 9th October 2004 then as green JUJ at Inverleith Pond, Edinburgh on 23rd June 2007.
Murrayburn/Slateford pair
IUJ cob green (metal W19899)/FVB pen green (metal Z89491).
IUJ green was ringed as breeding male at Wester Hailes (nested Dumbryden) on 13th August 2005. Bred with FVB since then.
FVB green was ringed as a cygnet (green BZU) at Craiglockhart Pond, Edinburgh on 24th August 1997. This bird moved around quite a bit between Glasgow and Edinburgh in its early years, being seen at the River Leven, Dumbarton, Hogganfield Loch, Strathclyde Park and Drumpellier Loch as well as St. Margaret’s Loch and Fife sites at Loch Gelly, Craigluscar Reserve and Town Loch, Dunfermline. By 2001 she had settled in the Edinburgh area, mainly at St. Margaret’s Loch and was re-ringed there as green FVB on 17th February 2002. She was reported on the canal from 2003 and eventually bred with green IUJ from 2005 in the Wester Hailes area.
More information?
We are unlikely to ring the cygnets this year owing to a problem over obtaining the colour rings but will continue to monitor the population, so any observations of colour ringed birds, nesting etc., will be very welcome (contact ku.oc.nworbwnalla|snaws#ku.oc.nworbwnalla|snaws ). We are mainly interested in whether birds take up a territory, do they nest and how many cygnets they fledge. Ring numbers, if any, of adults (and cygnets if ringed) are also required so that their life-time reproduction can be monitored.
Our website www.swanscot.org.uk is not available at present as it requires to be updated. We also try to produce an annual report but other commitments have delayed this in recent years.
See also
The wildlife (2008) page on this site also contains information (and photographs) about the swans.
