November? More like mid-winter!
After the flurry of new arrivals at the beginning of the week, the lake is settling down as new birds familiarise themselves with the daily routine of the feeds and regular visitors re-establish their patch.
Numbers have been fluctuating daily, with a top count of 118 swans recorded on Monday at a time of year when we would usually be expecting around 20 birds! Those north-easterly winds have certainly paid off! The hustle and bustle of Swan Lake, heaving with swans, geese, pintail, pochard and mallard to name but a few, is more reminiscent of a mid-winter scene at the moment.
Around 30 birds ‘disappeared’ shortly after their arrival this week but we have now tracked them down to Somerset! Divorcee Saruni (ringed 525) and her mate Sarune with their four cygnets have been spotted at Blagdon Lake whilst Winkey (ringed BCL) has been seen making the most of neighbouring Chew Lake, along with 12 other birds, likely to have also flown from Slimbridge (N. Milbourne and R. Mielcarek). Winkey was known to visit the lakes with old mate Tinkie and now seems to be giving new mate Winker a tour! After exploring the area, these birds are likely to come back to the reserve soon.
Latest news from the Netherlands is that there are now nearly 6,000 birds there with 2,000 birds along the Frisian coast and 2,600 birds on Lakes Drontermeer and Veluwemeer (M. Jansen). We look forward to hearing what Mennobart van Eerden finds as he flies over the north of Holland counting swans tomorrow.....
