Swans enjoy the floods!
There have been spectacular views of the swans on the reserve over the past few days as 200 have been making the most of the flooded scrapes on the reserve, alongside over 6,000 wigeon and nearly 600 white-fronted geese! The reserve is a nature lovers paradise at the moment and blessed with blue skies and temperatures of 7C, it couldn't get much better!
After our peak count of 319 which was recorded on 2 January, numbers have levelled out. A total of 274 swans were spotted today (including 40 cygnets), although most of those decided to skip the morning feed on Swan Lake and head out to the fields around the reserve instead! The attraction of the tasty, flooded grasses was obviously too tempting which is not surprising after a winter of mostly snow covered fields! Over the next couple of weeks, the swans will increase their food intake to lay down fat reserves before starting on their long migration back to Russia in mid-February.