Swans treated to Christmas leftovers!
Over Christmas, our reserve wardens have been busy lacing the lake shore with raw potatoes, carrots and parsnips as an extra tasty treat for the swans. During weeks of sub-zero temperatures, their natural food became increasingly scarce as the grass remained frozen and under snow. The supplementary daily feeds of wheat therefore proved very popular!
After the recent thaw, the grass will need time to improve again, but in the meantime, root vegetables are on the menu!
The swans have strong jaw muscles which enable them to bite firmly while a nail on the tip of the bill and a prickly tongue enables them to tackle tough vegetables as well as vegetation. Although Bewick's swans have traditionally fed on aquatic vegetation in wetland habitats, habitat changes in the mid-1900s as a result of the drainage of wetlands and intensification of agriculture, encouraged many to also feed on improved pastures and arable land.
This has certainly been the case in Norfolk, 
the 'bread basket' of the UK, where most birds now feed on sugar beet, winter cereals, potatoes and improved pastures. Slimbridge swans feed mostly on vegetation found on the reserve such as common ryegrass and marsh foxtail (a diet which is supplemented by grain), and so the root vegetables are providing a welcome change.
A total of 223 swans were recorded at the feed this morning, including 40 cygnets.
