Swan Spectacular begins at WWT Martin Mere
The first 500 Whooper swans have made the 900km journey from Iceland and arrived to spend the winter at WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre.
The swans arrived on Wednesday 19 October and included 32 cygnets which may be a good indication that the breeding season was more successful than once thought. This year, it had been feared that the breeding season was a bad one as there was a long frost into May in Iceland just when the Whooper swans start to breed, perhaps resulting in less cygnets hatching and surviving.
Due to the arrival, Martin Mere has been able to start their Swan Spectacular feeds at 3pm from Swan Link Hide and 3.30pm from Raines Observatory, including a warden’s talk. Over the winter, Martin Mere can expect to welcome up to 2000 swans creating fantastic viewing for all ages to enjoy.
It is also a great time of year to take photographs, and there are just a few weeks left to enter your autumn pictures into the WWT Photography competition before this first of the four seasonal heats closes on 30 November. The competition is being held in association with Canon, in celebration of the Scott Antarctic Expedition Centenary, and offers an amazing £50,000 worth of fantastic prizes for the national winners, including a grand prize for the Portfolio Photographer category of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica. For more details on the competition or to enter, go to photo.wwt.org.uk
