Freezing temperatures and north-easterly winds have triggered our first ‘swan fall’ of the winter with 24 new birds arriving overnight, pushing the reserve count up to 120! A total of 135 swans have now visited the reserve this winter which is higher than the five-year average for this time of year (94 birds). Swans have been flooding in from the east in an attempt to escape sub-zero conditions affecting much of Northwest Europe. Wind direction is also very important for migration with a tail wind particularly helping birds on their way.

There are now 23 cygnets accounting for 19% of the birds on site. This indicates far better breeding success than that seen in recent years (an average of 11.3% recorded during the 2005-2009 winters). A co-ordinated cygnet count across many wintering sites in Northwest Europe in mid-December should shed more light on breeding success for the whole population.

We were thrilled to see the return of golden oldie Bacan this afternoon! Bacan first visited Slimbridge as a yearling in 1991 which means he is now 20 years old! Bewick’s swans can live to at least 29 years old in the wild and we are eagerly awaiting the return of Winterling, who at 27, will break the record for the oldest swan to have visited Slimbridge if she flies in this winter!

A total of 62 swans were recorded by their individual bill patterns today.

Sometimes, relationships between swans are not as they seem and recent observations have certainly left us wondering about three particular Slimbridge visitors. For the past six years, a swan named Nero has spent her winters at the reserve with what we assumed to be her mate, Illya. Courtship dances were observed and they were rarely far from each others sides, although they never brought cygnets back with them.

Last winter, we noticed that Illya and Nero were accompanied by another adult named Illyan, and all three spent the winter here as a ménage à trois! Unusually, there seemed to be no acts of aggression towards imposter Illyan who was accepted very readily. The tale took another strange twist this week, when Nero flew in with Illyan. Despite searches, Illya is no where to be seen!

So what is occuring here? Perhaps the three birds are related in some way. Are Illyan and Nero siblings or step-siblings? Or was Illya the father of Nero rather than her mate? Bewick’s swans have been known to associate with their parents for up to seven years after birth, although this is very unusual, with most gaining independence after two years. If these birds are unrelated, could this be another case of divorce? We have seen only two cases of divorce during 45 years of studying the swans at Slimbridge. As only Illya was ringed and the parentage of each swan is not known, we cannot be certain that they are related and will therefore never fully unravel this intriguing puzzle….

The Slimbridge reserve is humming with life at the moment as north-easterly winds and plummeting temperatures have encouraged many more winter migrants to arrive. There were 57 hungry Bewick’s at the feed this morning and 34 of those have arrived since Saturday!

The usual theatre of characters are settling in and spending their days feeding, sleeping and arguing! Connie and Conrad with their two cygnets have been ruling the roost as the largest family here at the moment, whilst early arriver Dario is now taking a back seat as he struggles to compete with the other stronger families and pairs. Lucius, the father of Crinkly who had a distinct kink in her neck, has returned again with mate Aoki and an un-crinkly cygnet! Although Crinkly failed to come to Slimbridge last winter, we are still hoping that she will surprise us with an appearance this year.

A total of 69 swans have visited Slimbridge so far this winter which is close to the average number recorded at this time over the past five years (66 swans). With colder weather on its way, we can certainly expect our reserves to become even busier over the next few days!

Sarindi, the female swan who unusually divorced from old mate Saruni last year, has arrived back at Slimbridge! As Bewick’s swans form famously loyal partnerships during their lifetimes, mating for life where they can, the divorce of Sarindi and Saruni and the subsequent speedy re-pairing of both with new mates, was most unexpected. A failure to breed could have been a reason for the divorce. Fortunately for Sarindi’s second mate Sarind, a second divorce does not look on the cards (yet!) and both are happily settling in for their second winter together. Perhaps they are learning some lessons from recent arrivals Teapot and Teabag, who have faithfully been together for 15 years!

Sarindi and Sarind (J. Lees)

A total of 23 birds were present at the feed this morning.

Swan Lake was bustling with activity this morning as 14 new swans arrived overnight, pushing the reserve total up to 24 birds. Our first family of the winter flew in, a single parent who has brought her two cygnets to Slimbridge after seemingly losing her mate. We do not immediately recognise her as a bird that has visited before, so we are keeping an open mind about her identity at this stage. Any nervousness at the feed later may suggest that she is new to the reserve and its routines, so we will be watching her behaviour very carefully.

It was also lovely to see the return of the Tea Party! Faithful pair Teapot and Teabag have been spending their winters at the reserve together since 1996, with Teabag first testing Slimbridge waters in 1994! Over the years they have had 14 cygnets, although they have not brought any back with them this winter.

Teapot

With fog forecasted across the country this morning, swan counters on the Ouse Washes in Norfolk were bracing themselves for tricky counting conditions with poor visibility. Fortunately, the fog did not materialise, and all were treated to glorious sunshine and the stunning sight of 1,226 Bewick’s swans, most of whom were found on the Welney reserve (WeBS). Since the last count on 26 October, over 1,000 swans have arrived from the continent and several thousand more are expected to flock to the area during the winter!

Meanwhile, numbers in the Netherlands are now reaching 4,500, with around 1,600 birds on the Borderlakes in the centre of the country (Wim Tijsen/Martin Jansen).

Bewick’s on Lake Ijsselmeer, Holland (Otto de Vries)

Only 6-10% of birds recorded on arable land in the Netherlands have been cygnets although many families may still be residing further east.

Breeding birds are thought to leave the breeding range later than non-breeding birds, with cygnet development perhaps influencing the departure patterns of pairs with young. Age counts will therefore be conducted in mid-winter to provide a more accurate reflection of breeding success in 2010.

Back at Slimbridge, 12 swans are settling in for the winter and establishing themselves before several hundred more arrive in the coming months!