What comes after the ringing?

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As you may already know, this year the ringing took place in the beginning of August. It is always a delicate operation to organise. Almost a hundred experienced people are needed to ring more than 500 chicks in a short amount of time to avoid stressing or injuring the birds. Ideally, ringing should take place in the early morning, but this year the weather decided otherwise and over 600 chicks had to be ringed in the evening.

These new ringed flamingos are now registered in our database and we will be able to track them thanks to the observations collected by all the partner or volunteer observers.

BUNĂ ziua

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It means good day or hello in Romanian. It’s in Traian, in Lake Tuzla in Romania that KVTB was observed on September 10. Did he get lost? Or has he found a nice quiet and unoccupied area not far from there…? Or maybe he’s looking for some rare hems in the Balkans? Whatever the reason may be, it makes him the first French flamingo to set foot on Romanian soil!

NEWS from LATZ and LAVZ

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We have already told you about LATZ, a flamingo that was equipped with a GPS tag in 2020. Since then we can follow his movements on a daily basis. LATZ found that the south-east of France was worth spending time in and he has been exploring the region for a year and a half now. Right now he is the Salin d’Aigues-Mortes.

 LAVZ has joined the ranks this year as he too has been equipped with a GPS tag.

LATZ and LAVZ may have similar rings but their characters couldn’t be any more different. While LATZ is used to not moving too much, LAVZ took off for Spain without hesitating and has been staying there ever since. No later than the 18 November he had arrived in Valencia.

The flamingo specialist group, quesaco?

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It is the international network of flamingo specialists from the IUCN and Wetlands International that are focused on the conservation issues and research of the 6 species of flamingos in the world, both in the wild and in captivity.

The Tour du Valat is the focal point of this network for the Mediterranean, West Africa, as well as in Asia. We organise international meetings to discuss flamingo conservation issues around the world. The last meeting took place in San Diego (California) in 2014.

In the pursuit of your flamingo...

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You are not alone in following your flamingo, and not just in front of your screen.

Some don’t hesitate to put on their boots and head out to try and catch a glimpse of their flamingo!

This is what Michèle did with JPTS, one of the two flamingos that she has sponsored for several years. She was able to photograph him in Fos-Sur-Mer at the Étang de l’Estomac in October.

A new celebrity

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Cécile love flamingos and they love her back! In October she was able to observe a flamingo wearing the PDI ring in the Salt Marshes of Frontignan. After sending us all the information of her observation to our team, Cécile learned that the flamingo she had seen was 41 years old.

Not far from the record (which is 44 years old), this observation earned her an article in the Midi Libre. They were quite the talk of the town!

It was a great opportunity to talk about these birds that we all love so much ❤️ and to demonstrate the importance of citizen participation in scientific observations. Thank you very much!

Sponsor of the year

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Sophie Clauzon is very passionate about flamingos! Since Marche 2021 she is the happy sponsor of a flamingo she named Corail. But Sophie loves all flamingos and she spends hours observing them. She has already sent us hundreds of observations along with photos, and thanks to her we will be able to share them with their respective sponsors.

Sophie has accepted to answer some of our questions and introduce herself:

Flamingo sponsors day

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The flamingo sponsors day took place in the beginning of November, a day reserved for the sponsors of ideal flamingos. This is an option linked specifically to that offer.

Welcomed by the members of our team, the sponsors and their companions were able to visit the Pont de Gau Ornithological Park throughout the day accompanied by flamingo specialists for privileged guided tours. At the same time, several activities were offered to further discover the species such as an introduction to ring reading or the cabinet of curiosities.

Sophie, our “sponsor of the year’, was present on this day and was able to observe and provide information for 66 ringed flamingos (the record for the day) whose portrait she immortalised!

Do you wish to continue the adventure or share it?

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For some of you it has almost been a year since you’ve known us, and so you have received or will receive a message to renew your sponsorship and we would be very happy to keep you by our side! And as the icing on the cake, since you already received the comic poster and the brochure on flamingos, you will be receiving this lovely tote bag when you renew your sponsorship!

Please note, this gift does not apply for the mascots.

Only 6 of the flamingos from our families were not seen this year, and more than half of the sponsors of ideal flamingos received news from their flamingos so far. You haven’t heard from your flamingos yet? We hope that your turn comes soon. But know that more than 2,000 observations have been sent over the past year and that it is thanks to your support that we are able to gradually improve our observation capacities.

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And if you like the idea, know that it is possible to offer a sponsorship at any time… A bearded old man 🎅 is helping us out quite a bit right now to please both children and grown-ups alike.