Widemouth arrives!
On this cold and frosty morning, we were delighted to see the return of Slimbridge regular Widemouth! Widemouth has wintered at Slimbridge every year since her first visit here in the 1999/2000 winter but she was ominously absent last year. Exactly where she spent last winter remains a mystery. She was last seen when her white ring (coded TUV) was read in Meggerdorf (Germany) on spring migration in March 2014.
Widemouth was spotted today by swan volunteer Katie Oliver next to a sleeping adult and we are hoping that this bird will reveal itself to be her long-term mate Whitstone. Bewick’s swans are certainly creatures of habit and very site faithful - this characteristic was actually first recorded by Sir Peter Scott when he noticed that 16 of the 24 Bewick’s recorded on the reserve in the winter of 1964/65, also returned the following winter. It’s thought that the acquired knowledge of a good wintering site is very advantageous for the swans, allowing them to make use of prime feeding and roosting spots. However, sudden switches in wintering sites do occur and this can happen when a swan's mate prefers wintering elsewhere!
Following a steady trickle of new arrivals over the Christmas period, 130 Bewick’s were recorded on the reserve today. With easterly winds forecasted and temperatures expected to plunge to -10C tonight in the Netherlands, we hope to see a few more of our feathered friends arriving over the coming days…..
