Teesmouth Flamingoes

[tonyg]

Hi all what happened to these did they die or what?

[steve ly]

I remember seeing them ( mayby only one of them) when I was an apprentice when they were "Developing" the seal sands marshes, but that must have been 1975/76, I think they attempted to nest but cannot remember even if they Laid an egg.

story at the time was they were from Flamingo land (where else) at Pickering.

cannot remember when or where they went though.

Steve

[Jamie]

I think one lasted into the early 80's

[Damian]

The last one I know about was on North Tees Marshes in January 1998

Damian

[tonyg]

My wife and I were wed in 1990 and I took her to see 4 of them in mid 90's

[A McLee]

The story goes something like this if I recall correctly - un-pinnioneed Chilean Flamingoes were kept in an open enclosure at Flamingo Land Park. The size of the pen and the height of the fence was such that there was insufficient length for the birds to gain critical speed to lift off. The calculation did not consider the benefits of a strong head wind however, and one day and large numbers simply flew off as a shorter run-up as now needed to gain crucial airspeed. Simples.
I also recall reading somewhere in later years that some pairs of the species attempted to breed in a Black Headed Gull colony in western Ireland.
I stand to be corrected on this modern folklore.