A cygneture event: what is swan upping?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/20/what-is-swan-upping

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Swan upping is not the art of swan impersonation, nor has it anything to do with modifying the birds with a stereo, stencilled paint-job and lowered suspension. But it is no less exciting, at least to ornithologists and lovers of the British royal family.

An ancient ceremony that takes place every year, in the third week of July, swan upping is a census of the swan population on the Thames, where the river winds through Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

These are the areas where the Queen exercises her right to ownership over all unmarked mute swans, a claim dating back to her predecessors in the 12th century. Then the birds were seen as a tasty delicacy.

No one eats swans now, but the ceremony persists. It began again on Monday, with the Sovereign Swan Marker, David Barber, leading his team of royal swan uppers on a five-day mission to count and assess the birds.

Dressed in scarlet uniforms, the team take to the Thames on rowing skiffs, flying the flags and pennants of the Crown as well as the Vintners’ Livery Company and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, which have shared ownership of swans since the 15th century.

With a cry of “All up!” when they sight a brood of cygnets, the boats get into position to herd the swans. The birds are plucked from the waters, weighed, measured and examined for signs of disease or injury. They are also ringed with ID numbers by the the Queen’s swan warden, a professor of ornithology at the University of Oxford’s department of zoology, before being released.

The data helps conservationists devise the best strategies for protecting the swans.