Dario arrives with first family!
Regular Slimbridge visitor Dario has flown into Slimbridge for his 14th winter bringing with him his first cygnet! Dario first came to Slimbridge in 1999 as a youngster with parents Goodall and Raptor and has spent every winter except for one on the reserve ever since. We were beginning to wonder where Dario was – he is a famously early arriver, usually beating the crowds to be one of the first to drop in. In fact, he’s been the first to arrive four times and most commonly flies in around 25 October! Our studies have shown that families often arrive a little later than single or paired birds perhaps because the cygnets take a little longer to migrate or need more time feeding in the arctic before embarking on their 2,500 mile journey.
Although Bewick’s swans most often breed between the ages of five and six years, Dario has waited until he is 14 to bring back his first brood with mate Bridges. There is a chance that the pair produced cygnets on the tundra that didn’t survive to reach Britain in the past.
The dip in temperatures and calm nights have encouraged a few more swans to arrive with 13 now attending the feeds at Slimbridge. This week, the first big swan count of the winter happened on the Ouse Washes, the most important wintering site for the species in Northwest Europe. This will give us a clear picture of how many have arrived there so we will keep you posted with the result once the counts have been compiled...
