Julia Newth is a wildlife health research officer at WWT and has been involved with monitoring the 300 or so wild Bewick's swans that spend their winter at Slimbridge, for four years.
The Bewick's swan study was started in February 1964 by Sir Peter Scott, when the first wild Bewick's swans were attracted to a lake in the Rushy Pen at Slimbridge. Peter and his family took a very close interest in the swans. By drawing each swan's bill pattern (which is unique to each individual), a detailed study of the species began which continues to this day, making it one of the longest running research projects of any single species in the world!
Julia's winter months at Slimbridge are spent identifying the swans by their bill patterns as they arrive. Once the individuals are identified and named, the behaviour and movements of each can then be closely studied on site. The Bewick's swans are particularly special in that they have great winter site fidelity and so over half of the swans that visit Slimbridge each winter are known to have visited us before.
It is always exciting to see who will be arriving next and whether they have brought any cygnets with them. Some of our swans are also ringed which enables us to track them on their Autumn and Spring migrations to and from arctic Russia. It is always lovely to receive news of old swan friends in foreign lands as they progress on their 3,000 km journeys!
- 8 Apr
Hosta finally gets going!
Hosta has finally left Slimbridge on spring migration, a month after the rest of the reserve's flock departed! She was last seen on 29 March by Steve and will probably be well on her way across the Netherlands and perhaps in eastern Europe by now. After developing a remarkably strong bond with the
captive group in the Tundra Pen, the lengthening days will have provided the main stimulus for triggering her migration. She, along with the other Northwest European wintering Bewick's swans, will spend the summer on the high artic tundra of Russia. The swans migratory and reproductive cycles must be closely synchronised as the birds have just 3-4 months in which to breed, moult, develop fat reserves and head back to Europe before the arctic winter closes in again. Over the course of the winter, 240 individual swans visited Slimbridge which was much lower than the reserve's five-year average (322 birds). A co-ordinated international census in 2010 will confirm the status of the population and indicate whether there has been a decline and/or a redistribution of birds across the flyway. Poor breeding success will have reduced recruitment to the population in recent years and sadly, 2008 was no exception. Only 7.5% of the Slimbridge flock were juveniles this winter and even lower productivity was found on the continent, with only 4% found in 3,000 birds aged in the Netherlands in November (Wim Tijsen). The weather on the tundra is likely to be very
influential in determining breeding success with late spring thaws (as seen in spring 2009) being particularly detrimental.So as the swans make their way across Europe on their epic journey, we hope for much improved breeding success once they start arriving in the arctic in June and look forward to hearing of their progress as they make their way back to us in the autumn.Post a comment - 27 Mar
Slimbridge swans spotted on migration!
We have had news that some of our Slimbridge swans are making good headway on their long taxing journey back to arctic Russia. Having left the reserve on 1 March, Roscoff (ringed BBF) and her cygnet (ringed BBB) were spotted by Julius Morkunas and Vytautas Jusys in Dreverna, Lithuania, on 19 March! They were seen happily feeding amongst a flock of 100 Bewick’s swans, perhaps some of which were Slimbridge friends! Roscoff’s mate, Rhune, would have almost certainly been with them but is not ringed.Meanwhile back at Slimbridge, Hosta is still enjoying the company of the captive Bewick’s swans in the tundra pen. He has been flying around a little more than usual over the past week however, so perhaps he is also thinking about heading off soon…..
Post a comment - 19 Mar
He is a she!
We are still lucky to have our last wild Bewick’s swan of the season with us. Hosta seems in no rush whatsoever whilst the rest of the Slimbridge flock will now be well on their way to eastern Europe before heading up to arctic Russia for the summer! Furthermore, Hosta was caught the other day by our aviculturalists, and after being sexed, we discovered that Hosta is in fact a female! We had suspected that Hosta was a male previously as she was a very big bird!
Post a comment - 12 Mar
Hosta still enjoying Slimbridge hospitality!
Hosta is still enjoying the company of the captive Bewick’s in the Tundra Pen and has been thrilling visitors by coming within feet to feed along the shore. This is quite an unusual trait for the characteristically timid wild Bewick’s swan and is making us wonder whether he has familiarised himself with humans through visiting domestic ponds in the UK or on the continent……
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- 9 Mar
Last swan standing!
On Friday night, twelve Bewick’s swans departed on spring migration leaving just one behind. Hosta is two years old and was also the last swan to leave Slimbridge last spring when he finally set off on his journey alone on 27 April, a good two months later that the rest of the flock! Hosta made firm friends with the captive Bewick’s swans in the grounds last year and seems to have latched on to them again this winter, spending most of his time with them rather than the wild flock. Fellow swan spotter Steve Heaven and I will be watching closely over the coming days to see whether Hosta has fallen for one particular individual or whether he has just made friends with the whole group!
Hosta is not the only Bewick’s swan left in Gloucestershire however. Two cygnets were left behind at Walmore Common a week ago as single parent Gorgonzola departed on spring migration with several others (Mike Smart). It is not clear how the family became separated nor what will happen to the youngsters named Stinking and Bishop. Hopefully they will remember their migration route and reach the Russian arctic unhindered….
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- 6 Mar
Spot the swans!
There are now only 13 Bewick’s swans left at Slimbridge! We have had excellent views of our oldest swan, 26 year old Winterling, who has been spending most of the day feeding outside the Peng Observatory, and the last family Wooton and Stinchcombe with their two cygnets have also been regularly dropping in. The smaller numbers will make it easier to identify the individuals by bill pattern so why not come and have a go!
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- 2 Mar
A further 90 swans leave...
Excellent migratory conditions last night encouraged over 90 swans to leave on migration, reducing the reserve count to just 33 birds this morning (including six cygnets). The bright moon would have provided good visibility for navigating and the stars useful for orientation, not to mention the westerly winds which would have helped them on their way! The last few have been resting out in the fields today and making the most of the feed in preparation for their long journey ahead…..
Post a comment - 27 Feb
Swans continue to flood out of the UK
Thirty-two Slimbridge swans departed on spring migration at around 7am this morning in perfect migratory conditions of clear skies and westerly winds. This lowered the reserve count to 112 (including five cygnets). There has also been a big exodus from the Ouse Washes, Norfolk, with only 420 recorded on Wednesday. This is a huge drop from the 3,025 birds counted on 30 January (WebS).
Despite the departures from Slimbridge, there are still plenty of characters enjoying the feeds. Favourites remaining include Crinkly (our swan with the deformed neck) and our oldest swan Winterling, who at 26 years old, is fast reaching the record for the longest lived swan at Slimbridge which was last seen at 27!
Westerly winds are set to continue over the weekend so now is the time to pick up your binoculars and make the most of the swans whilst they are still here!
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- 23 Feb
Mass migration underway!
A mild weekend of westerly winds and clear skies has triggered the mass migration of Bewick’s swans across Europe as they start to make their way back to arctic Russia! Flocks of up to 300 birds have been seen flying east over the Netherlands at migration counting points (Martin Jansen) with numbers in Emsland dropping from 900 to 400 (Wim Tijsen & Dico Tijsen). An estimated 1,201 birds were on the move over the weekend (Wim Tijsen).Here at Slimbridge, the reserve count has dropped from 170 on 16 February to 146 recorded this morning. Some of the swans have been seen taking lengthier ‘practice flights’ in recent days, suggesting that migration is imminent. Our brilliant network of observers throughout the county enabled us to piece together one such practice flight on Saturday morning. At 7:08am, Mike Smart saw 20 Bewick’s swans fly over Walmore Common, Gloucestershire, from the direction of Slimbridge. A family party who have been roosting at Walmore, joined them and they all departed heading north up the River Severn. At 7:24am, Gordon Avery noted a flock of 22 Bewick’s swans flying north-east along the river and at 7:45am Les Brown saw a flock of 18 circling the Coombe Hill reserve! Seven swans returned to Walmore soon after.
1 = Slimbridge
6 = Walmore Common
Several flocks were also seen leaving the British coast and heading out across the North Sea on Saturday. A co-ordinated count on the Ouse Washes, Norfolk, tomorrow will tell us how many have left on migration in recent days. With westerly winds forecasted for the rest of the week, there are sure to be more swans leaving wintering hotspots both here and on the continent.
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- 13 Feb
News Flash!
News just in from Mike Smart indicates that 27 Bewick’s swans were spotted at Walmore Common, a SSSI site around eight miles north of Slimbridge, yesterday. At least some of these included our missing Slimbridge birds such as Widemouth (ringed TUV) and Winney (BCH). So it seems that not all of our missing birds have started to migrate yet after all and have been hiding at other Gloucestershire haunts! 153 birds were recorded here on the reserve this morning. Large areas of floodwater have encouraged the swans to disperse and spend a lot of time out in the fields rooting around for vegetation such as Silverweed. Skies will be clearing and winds are forecasted to turn westerly from Sunday which will provide good migratory conditions for the swans.
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Wim Tijsen - 3/3/09
Migration confirmed by several groups flying over the provence of north Holland (numbers in groups between 18 and 40) in eastern directions.