The swans depart
Numbers of Whooper swans are starting to decrease, we still have just over a thousand here but numbers are falling all the time and I would expect them to be all gone in the next 10 days.
I live on site here at Martin Mere and it is always interesting to watch the behaviour of the swans when they are preparing to leave. They have a very high pitch call that is deafening and it is a call that is telling everyone else that they are off to Iceland. They also become very agitated and restless as they are preparing for the migration. They tend to fly into the air, circle the mere a few times then increase their flying height heading North. All we can do is wish them well on their journey.
We had a swan on site last week that is 35 years old, has had 35 cygents in her lifetime and travelled the equivalent distance to once around the world - they certainly are fantastic birds!
Apologies: The swan on site last week is 21 years old not 35 as previously typed, this was a typing error.
