Wooton, Stinchcombe & 4 cygnets arrive!
Wooton and Stinchcombe have just flown in fresh from migration with four cygnets! It was fantastic to see them circling the reserve before skimming in across the water. A territorial fight then ensued which put Zara and Tindall firmly in their place! Wooton has been visiting Slimbridge since 1997 and has been with Stinchcombe since 2007. They are a very productive family and this is their fourth brood they have brought to Slimbridge. It is thought that the Bewick’s swan population is sustained by a small number of consistently ‘good breeders’ which makes them rather vulnerable, particularly given that they are late starters and tend not to start producing until they are four to six years old. In other words, the health of the population relies on good breeding pairs like Wooton and Stinchcombe. The swans have had poor breeding seasons recently, likely in part to be connected with conditions on breeding grounds in arctic Russia during the spring and summer. A co-ordinated count of adults, cygnets and brood sizes across Northwest Europe on 7/8 December will shed light on how well they have bred this year. The count is creeping up now with 33 Bewick’s recorded on the Slimbridge reserve this morning.
