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Kane Brides 🦆

@kanebrides.bsky.social

1.3K followers 230 following 110 posts

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.

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Nov 15

First post on Bluesky! Hi I'm Kane & I work in wetland species recovery at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social based at Slimbridge. Along with posting about my WWT work, in my own time I also run lots of projects on bird species, especially wildfowl, so expect posts & project updates from these too! 👋

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · 2d

Awesome! I ringed that bird Ray, I'd have loved to have seen it in my hometown of Manchester!! Thank you for reporting it!

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

Kevin Wood @drkevinwood.bsky.social · 20d

Our new open access study on human-nature connectedness is now online.

We show that engaging in outdoor environmental activities increases human-nature connectedness, with mindfulness and encounters with wildlife showing the largest increases.

Full paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.pe...

🌍 🧪 🦤

An infographic showing six images of people engaged in outdoor activities, which serves as the graphical abstract for our newly published paper on human-nature connection. The first image, showing a man and girl looking at an otter, represents encounters with captive animals. The second image, representing educational activities, shows a woman and two children pond dipping and identifying the animals that they find. The third image shows a group of people on a 'Landrover safari' looking at waterbirds, which represents encounters with wildlife. The fourth image represents gardening, and shows a group of adults and children creating a new garden. The fifth image shows two people in the distance walking alongside an estuary, representing recreation. The final image represents mindfulness and shows a person meditating in nature. For each activity, the mean value for the change in human-nature connectedness is reported, based on the analyses undertaken in our paper.

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · 27d

Nice!! It's not been resighted since ringing, so super good to get this one :) If you head to www.waterbirdcolourmarking.org (report a bird page), you'll get the details there. Cheers!

Waterbird Colour-marking Group

Visit the post for more.

www.waterbirdcolourmarking.org

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) | Goose & Swan Monitoring (GSMP) @webs-gsmp.bsky.social · Sep 1

🦢The International Swan Census involves counters to carry out a one-off count on the weekend of 17th-18th January 2026.

This involves counting Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, as well as recording age assessments and habitat.

Visit the vacant site map⬇️
app.bto.org/gsmp/public/...

#Ornithology

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Aug 15

Together, the team turns challenging fieldwork into transformative science.

#ScienceInTheField #WhooperSwan #Iceland2025 #ProtectedSites #SpeciesResearch

Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Aug 15

From Ketill Þór Thorstensen & Dr @stephen8vickers.bsky.social to Scott Petrek, Dr @drkevinwood.bsky.social, Prof Cao Lei and Dr Eileen Rees OBE, each member plays a vital role - whether that’s trekking remote wetlands, analysing migration data, or bringing unparalleled knowledge of Whooper ecology

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Aug 15

The Iceland Whooper Swan Study Group is powered by an exceptional team of volunteers united by a passion for the conservation of swan species. Led by Kane Brides, Sverrir Thorstensen & Dr Ólafur Einarsson, the group blends decades of field experience sharp statistical skills & deep species expertise

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Aug 15

Our Whooper Swan expedition has been a blur of hauling zodiacs over tundra, coaxing engines through salt spray & dancing with Iceland’s untamed waves. While our waterproofs are still drying, we’ve gathered the stories data & moments that made this trip 👇🦢

www.linkedin.com/pulse/icelan...

Iceland Whooper Swan expedition 2025

This summer, we're back in Iceland for the next chapter of our research - here’s an update from across our three current main work areas..

www.linkedin.com

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Aug 12

A successful few days deploying GPS tags on Whooper Swans in the highlands of Iceland to check whether the wetlands they depend on in Britain & Ireland are still doing the job in a changing climate.

#Iceland #Wetlands #ProtectedSites #Ornithology

Whooper Swans in protective jackets in a boat in Iceland. Caught for colour-marking & GPS tagging.

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

Bird Study Journal @birdstudy.bsky.social · Jun 26

22 papers across two issues document the impact of #AvianInfluenza and assess effectiveness of management responses. They show the unprecedented scale of the outbreak, decimating populations across Europe, Africa, North and South America to the South Atlantic.
📚 bit.ly/bird-study-h...
#Ornithology

A dead Black-headed Gull at a colony in Norfolk, UK, photographed by Dawn Balmer / BTO, and likely a victim of high pathogenicity avian influenza.

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Jun 12

Lovely day yesterday catching up with staff. A day of assessing recruitment of Curlews to the Dartmoor breeding population, discussing headstart post release monitoring & of course seeing the 2025 cohort of headstarts! 😊

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Jun 7

Interesting few days working on behalf of Natural England in advising the UK Great Bustard Group on developing & trialling a protocol to monitor great bustard productivity. The trip also facilitated knowledge transfer between national experts in species monitoring. #SpeciesRecoveryProgramme

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Jun 4

They are fascinating! I'm looking forward to deploying GPS tags on them in 2026! Makes you wonder whether this bird is actually a usual Strathclyde moulter but potentially postponed its moult migration in 2024 & decamped to Windermere instead....

Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

g76birder @g76birder.bsky.social · Jun 4

Slimbridge Greylags currently starting to appear at Strathclyde Loch and Hogganfield for their annual moult migration, among them, unusually, this one ringed at Windermere
@kanebrides.bsky.social #clydebirding

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

Nature @nature.com · May 17

📢 Calling PhD students 📢 we want to hear from you!

Help shape the future of PhD education. Take our survey to tell us all about your experiences

https://go.nature.com/42ZB3vq

PhD students in STEM: Nature wants to hear from you

Nature - Buried in lab work or drowning in data? Take a break and help shape the future of PhD education.

go.nature.com

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · May 10

Rather satisfying loading up to @movebank.bsky.social
1,679,731 Bewick's Swan tracking data points ✨️👌🏻 #Ornithology

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · May 8

Annual paddle in the Lake District for Barnacle Goose nest counting & monitoring. Lots of nests found, GPS'd, colour-marked adults identified & lots of eggs counted, measured, and weighed. Fun day with @cateden91.bsky.social #monitoring

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 30

Do UK hatched Whooper Swans go to Iceland? These two hatched at WWT Welney last year & today were in Northumberland with other migrating Whoopers. Hopefully, we'll get sightings of them in Iceland 🤞

Gary Woodburn @gary-woodburn.bsky.social · Apr 30

7 Whooper Swans arrived at Low Newton scrapes this morning from the south, about an hour later they departed north. 2 of the birds had white rings with black letters on the right leg, ABN and ABP. Metal rings on the left leg.

#NEbirding

@kanebrides.bsky.social

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 30

For all their details, if you enter your sightings to www.waterbirdcolourmarking.org (report a bird page) you'll get their histories and a map of movements. Cheers!

Waterbird Colour-marking Group

Visit the post for more.

www.waterbirdcolourmarking.org

Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 30

Excellent! Interesting birds these two. They are actually UK hatched Whooper Swan cygnets (from 2024) from WWT Welney in Norfolk. Good to know they are now in the NE and with other Whoopers. It'll be interesting to see if they get to Iceland! @debalmer.bsky.social @lizziebruce.bsky.social

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

BOU @bou.org.uk · Apr 29

Obituary in IBIS

Mike Harris (1939 - 2023)

doi.org/10.1111/ibi....

One of the world's best known, most loved and most outstanding seabird biologists

#ornithology

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 20

Lovely day at Matsalu Bay in Estonia watching thousands of Barnacle & White-fronted geese. Decent numbers of Bewick's swans, too. Smaller numbers of Whooper swans & Bean geese. Wildfowl heaven 😍

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Reposted by Kane Brides 🦆

Debs Allbrook @debsallbrook.bsky.social · Apr 9

Listen up anyone working in the Irish Sea this summer! We tagged a bunch of kitts in Liverpool Bay and want to gather as many resightings as we can. If you spot these yellow colour rings please give me a shout ([email protected]) 🐦💍💛

(Modelled by our very own VIP 😌👑)

#Seabirds #IrishSea

A juvenile kittiwake in the hand, wearing a 3-digit coded yellow colour ring, a red plastic ring and a metal ring.

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 7

Lovely day in the Severn & Avon Vales for Curlew tagging. Several birds caught and data already being uploaded 👌🏻

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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · Apr 6

The 106th time of running out onto the balcony to check for migrating Osprey...

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