Northern bald ibis again opts to spend winter here

Switzerland is not really the ideal place for northern bald ibis to spend winter, especially as they do not have a layer of fat or thick plumage to protect them from the cold. However, this female specimen, Shorty as she is known, has been spotted here again, rather than heading for the warmer climes of Tuscany to spend winter.
 
It was in 2012 that Shorty, who hatched in spring of that year, lost contact with the lead bird heading for Italy and spent the following winter alone near Risch.
 
A team of ornithologists headed by Austrian Johannes Fritz have been following the movement of these rare birds with their distinctive curved beaks since 2002. In fact two years ago they went to great trouble to try and catch Shorty in a net to take her back to the breeding grounds in Burghausen in Germany but failed. Instead she returned there on her own accord. "She has a mind of her own has Shorty," said Fritz. "We never thought she would have survived that winter here in Switzerland."
 
The ornithologist explained that it was the lead bird's job to teach the young birds the route from Germany to Tuscany (the third photograph shows the route she is supposed to take), but for some reason this had not worked in the case of Shorty, who now thinks Switzerland is the place to spend winter. "She was caught and driven to Tuscany in autumn of 2013 and from there back to Burghausen. We hoped she would then fly with the others to spend winter back in Italy, but here she is back in Risch again. If she survives this winter here, then it seems she will keep returning. It is hoped that next year, when she is expected to have chicks, that these are not led here, but join the others in Tuscany," added Fritz.
 
Fortunately the bird has been ringed and fitted with a GPS emitter, so her whereabouts can be monitored at all times. Hence it has been able to follow her as she has been flying between Sempach in the canton of Lucerne and Dietwil in the canton of Argovia, returning to Risch when it gets a bit cooler as the temperatures on Lake Zug are a bit warmer.
 
If you have not seen Shorty personally, you can still admire the bronze statue of her on the lake shore.