'Swanfall' continues with cold weather
The freezing weather and snow has accompanied the arrival of 117 new Bewick's swans over the last week alone! Today, 132 wild swans (including 26 cygnets) were recorded on the Slimbridge reserve, and while temperatures remain cold, more will be on their way.
Snow has also hit the Netherlands where this flock was spotted by Wim Tijsen yesterday. Wim and others have seen many cygnets so far this winter which is great news and follows some terrible breeding seasons for this declining population. This weekend, ornithologists across Europe and Britain will be braving the cold and heading to the fields to count the number of cygnets in flocks. This will tell us whether the swans have had a good breeding season or not. Early signs certainly seem promising....
Caper is probably our bird of the week, flying in for his 24th winter. He first visited the reserve in 1989 and has been faithful to Slimbridge ever since. He is fast catching up with the longest surviving Bewick's ever known who reached 29 years. Intriguingly, Caper has arrived back with old mate Gambol who he has not been seen with since the 2010/11 winter. Caper spent last winter on his own and we were fearing the worst until they both arrived together again this week! Swans are famously loyal to one another, often mating for life when they can. It is likely that they were accidentally separated at some stage. Fortunately they have been reunited.
