Staff at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust’s (WWT) Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in Scotland did a double take this morning. Amongst the many thousands of Barnacle geese feeding on the reserve was a lone Red-breasted goose.

An endangered species listed on the IUCN Red List, these birds usually spend the winter in Bulgaria or Romania, migrating from Arctic Russia where they breed during the summer months.

The Red-breasted goose population has suffered a staggering 56% decline in the past 10 years and is the subject of a major conservation project by WWT looking into the issues of illegal hunting, loss of habitat and agricultural changes affecting the species.

How this lone bird came to be so far off course is a mystery. Brian Morrell from WWT Caerlaverock was one of those who spotted the stunning bird this morning. He said: “I was scanning the flock when lo and behold a Red-breast! As you can see from the pictures it is a fine looking adult bird. Where it has come from is a big question, but we have had some northerly gales over the last week or so, so who knows?”

This weekend, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and the Irish Whooper Swan Study Group are joining forces with other partners to prepare a Single Species Action Plan for Whooper Swans at an international workshop in Northern Ireland.

The Action Planning Workshop is being held at the Oxford Island National Nature Reserve in Craigavon, Co Armagh, 5-7 November. The aim is to prepare a draft plan for protecting the Icelandic flyway population of Whooper Swans based on input from experts from across the flyway. This is being done under terms of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in order to establish priorities for conservation action.

This will involve assessment of the current population status, distribution, conservation status, conservation threats and necessary conservation measures for the population.

WWT’s current satellite-tracking project of this population, Super Whooper, will feed data into the findings of the workshop.

To date, six of the seven tracked Super Whoopers have left Iceland and have either arrived or are en route to our shores. The project allows for further swans to be fitted with transmitters to further fill gaps in our knowledge.

The draft plan will be drawn up and submitted to AEWA and CMS for ratification next year.

Dr Baz Hughes, Head of Species Conservation at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge has been presented with a Lifetime Achievement award by the International Wild Waterfowl Association.

The prestigious award is in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the conservation of wildlife species during his career. This accolade comes hot on the heels of Baz’s 20th anniversary working for the Trust at the end of September.

Sunderland-born Baz, 42, who lives in Uley with his wife and three children, began working for WWT as a 13-year-old schoolboy back in 1979, when he worked as a volunteer developing the Trust’s new centre at WWT Washington. After carrying out his Biology degree at Durham University, Baz began working for WWT at Slimbridge in 1987 where he studied the ecology and behaviour of Ruddy Ducks in the UK for a PhD.

Between 1994 and 1999 he was WWT’s Head of Species Management and Conservation, heading a team conducting conservation research. Between 1999 and 2004 he was Head of Threatened Species Department, taking responsibility for WWT’s field conservation and captive breeding programmes. And since 2004, Baz has been Head of Species Conservation taking overall responsibility for WWT’s waterbird monitoring, research and conservation activities.

Baz has 20 years professional experience in waterfowl ecology and has published over 100 scientific papers and reports, 50 popular articles and, since 1999, has been Chair of the IUCN-SSC/Wetlands International Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Group.

Commenting on his award, Baz said: “I am honoured to receive this award from the IWWA, which wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my friends and colleagues at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Working for WWT has made me realise that it really is possible to make a difference and save the world’s most threatened waterfowl and their wetland habitats. You can even come along to our centres to see them all too!”