Lone cygnet migrates with adopted family
Annie, our lone cygnet left behind after her parents migrated back to Russia, has now left Slimbridge with her newly adopted family!
We were very pleased to see Annie becoming closer to Wooton and Stinchcombe and their four cygnets in the days before migration which makes us hopeful that she will be guided safely back to the arctic. We are not sure who Annie’s parents are as several families started their journey on the night that she was left behind. Cygnets usually remain with their parents for at least some of the return journey back to the arctic and some even return to wintering sites with their parents the following year. Although Annie will have learnt the migration to Slimbridge by following her parents, the return journey will be less familiar. Her chances of finding her way back with her adopted family are now much greater. There is still much to understand about how swans find their way on migration. It is likely that they use a combination of navigational mechanisms such as the angle of the sun, the stars, the landscape and the earth’s magnetic field. Landmarks are thought to be important for mapping out routes and the swans are certainly aware of the landscape beneath them, often following coastlines, rivers and even man-made features such as motorways!
There are now only two Bewick’s left at Slimbridge, Tenggiling and Peg. With spring arriving, they are sure to join the thousands of swans migrating across Europe very soon......
