First whooper swans arrive at Martin Mere
WWT Martin Mere saw the first two Whooper Swans arrive on 10 October, and the first family of five arrive on 11 October. As of 16 October, we have seen over 400 whooper swans on the mere!
Each year, whooper swans make the 500-mile migration from Iceland to spend the winter at Martin Mere. We will usually see hundreds of the swans return to us, with the majority arriving early to mid-November.
Many of the juveniles coming with their parents may only be three or four months of age when they make this incredible journey. You can easily identify the juveniles by their greyish colour and their beaks which are not yet yellow.
The Late Night Openings, created to allow everyone to see the migrating species that visit our reserve, is free to enter after 5pm until 7pm to visit our Discovery Hide.
Those unable to make it in October can come to our daily wild bird feeds which will resume 14 October at our Discovery Hide and Raines Observatory up until March 2024.
Photo credit: Ray Charnock
