Crinkly's father returns with an un-crinkly cygnet!
The Slimbridge reserve is humming with life at the moment as north-easterly winds and plummeting temperatures have encouraged many more winter migrants to arrive. There were 57 hungry Bewick's at the feed this morning and 34 of those have arrived since Saturday!
The usual theatre of characters are settling in and spending their days feeding, sleeping and arguing! Connie and Conrad with their two cygnets have been ruling the roost as the largest family here at the moment, whilst early arriver Dario is now taking a back seat as he struggles to compete with the other stronger families and pairs. Lucius, the father of Crinkly who had a distinct kink in her neck, has returned again with mate Aoki and an un-crinkly cygnet! Although Crinkly failed to come to Slimbridge last winter, we are still hoping that she will surprise us with an appearance this year.
A total of 69 swans have visited Slimbridge so far this winter which is close to the average number recorded at this time over the past five years (66 swans). With colder weather on its way, we can certainly expect our reserves to become even busier over the next few days!
