Pictures

1.

Swan upping, the annual census of the swan population on the River Thames, is in full swing!

2.

The annual ceremony dates from the 12th Century and takes place during the third week of July.

3.

Swans were once considered a delicacy and the Crown claimed ownership of every single one.

4.

The monarch would send teams of 'uppers' up the Thames to tag all unmarked swans.

5.

Today, the goals of the census are more conservational than culinary.

6.

Cygnets are tagged and registered on the database of the British Trust for Ornithology.

7.

This year's census began in Sunbury-on-Thames and will end at Abingdon in Oxfordshire on Friday.

8.

The uppers use six traditional Thames rowing skiffs to hunt out the broods of cygnets.

9.

Presiding over the adventure is the Sovereign's Swan Marker, David Barber. Godspeed, sir!