A Whooper with distinction
U75 came in during the 2005/06 season and was ringed in January 2006 during the swan catch. He was a very small adult male weighing 8.4 kg and was seen on his own in 2005 through to 2008.
In 2009 he came in with an unringed mate and a cygnet. The mate was possibly E5U who got a ring the next year and they were with 2 cygnets in 2010. Nothing was seen of them for the next 4 years when they appeared in 2015 with a cygnet but she had lost her darvic and her bill had turned white! They came back 2016 but without cygnets and she still had her white bill. The following year she was seen again but her bill hard turned pink and black. For the next 3 years neither were seen and she was never seen again but in November 2021 he appeared on his own sporting a pink bill but didn’t stay long. In the second week of March 2022, having been away for 4 months, he arrived back with a pink and black bill.
On 10th December 2022 he was back with his pink and black bill. At first I thought it might be a hybrid Mute/Whooper then looked at the leg ring and saw it was old U75. He must be at least 19 or 20 years old and it was lovely to see him again. There were lots of whoopers on the folly pond and he was in a group that had adults and cygnets but not sure if he had any or was alone. I will be keeping a watchful eye out for him as I thought the change in bill colour might be a sign of disease or infection but it doesn’t seem to bother him and he’s back and alive which is the main thing.
Written by Sheila Stubbs
