And now there are five!
Two new swans swooped in over the weekend to join Dario, Bridges and Humbugs for a winter at Slimbridge. The birds have grey flecks on their heads which indicate that they are yearlings. Born in June 2010, they have already made three migrations, flying over 5,400 miles of land and sea between Russia and western Europe! Judging from their behaviour, we are sure that they were here at Slimbridge last winter as cygnets so we will be watching carefully to see whether they happily greet any of last year’s parents. They seem very at home here and are not nervous when the reserve staff feed on the lake shore.
We now have some really nice examples of each bill pattern group (penny face, dark-neb and yellow neb) and with just a small group of swans, it is a great time to get your eye in and try to identify the different characters – it becomes much harder when more birds arrive!
From left to right:
Dario: dark-neb, 12 years old, Slimbridge regular; Humbugs: penny face, 2 years old, Slimbridge first timer; New yearling: yellow-neb
Although there are signs of a gradual movement across Europe, very few swans have reached Britain so far in what has been an unusual start to the swan season. A co-ordinated count across the Ouse Washes in Norfolk this morning revealed a grand total of two Bewick’s which is around 600 birds fewer than usual (WeBS).
A combination of mild temperatures and westerly winds has stalled the bulk of the population further east although if news from Europe is anything to go by, we should be expecting some new visitors soon. Dropping temperatures and north-easterly winds have accompanied a big influx into the Netherlands with the arrival of 800 swans at Lake Lauwersmeer in the north and the scattering of birds across the country (W. Tijsen). One thing is certain - there are now over 3,000 swans in the Netherlands, and many of those will soon be heading to Britain....
