Cuticle arrives after 10 year absence!
It’s been a funny old winter! After months of rain which saw the swans disperse to feed and roost across newly flooded fields, dropping temperatures have now made those areas deserted ice rinks! As adaptable as ever, the Slimbridge swans have been searching out alternative feeding areas as the grass they usually graze on is frozen. We noticed groups of birds flying away from the reserve in the morning which led our reserve warden James Lees to investigate. Although after white-fronted geese, he came across a flock of 160 Bewick’s on a maize field two miles away.
The maize itself could not be harvested during all of the wet weather but has inadvertently provided an alternative tasty food resource for birds in times of hardship. Although it’s quite common for Bewick’s to feed on arable land in Norfolk, we have only known this to happen twice at Slimbridge as there are more opportunities to graze on grass. James managed to capture the moment on film which can now be seen on the Slimbridge sightings page.
Freezing weather in the east of the country and the continent has persuaded more birds to push on west with a further 15 new arrivals at Slimbridge today including one unique bird called Cuticle (and ringed YIS) who has not been to Slimbridge for 10 years! Cuticle first visited Slimbridge as a cygnet with his father, Fingers, in 1995, and was faithful to the reserve until the 2002/03 winter. He then decided to spend his winters in the Netherlands and Germany where he was regularly spotted by his leg-ring...until today! Perhaps this will be the start of more regular visits again....
