ON THE WILD SIDE
THIS month is pretty much the last chance to catch sight of some of our wintering birds before they head back up to northern Europe, or Russia, or anywhere but here really.
Everyone has a favourite, from thrushes to goosanders, but the biggest visitor definitely makes a splash. So with spring springing, let’s say a wintery farewell to the last of the yellow-beaked swans.
These aren’t the terrors of your local pond who hiss at your children and chase your dog. In almost every case those are the good old mute swan – you can tell instantly by the orange beak and the fact they live here all year round of course.
The other British swans are (mostly) only winter visitors. These two species were once considered to be the same, but as time went on and more things were discovered, they were proven to be quite different.
Both species can be seen on fields in the winter eating crop leftovers, or on wetlands, but now you are likely to see them in flocks heading back home.
Physically the smallest of our visiting swans is the Bewick’s swan, named after a naturalist who studied them. They come over from Siberia. They look slightly different in flight as their wings beat faster. Their beaks are black and yellow with unique patterns which can be used to identify them. About a third of the entire world population of Bewick’s swans choose to come to the UK to winter, so we should be honoured.
Whooper swans are the intermediate swan, and fly over from Iceland in winter. They fly the entire 500-mile-plus trip without making a stop-off. They have much more yellow on their beaks, and aren’t unique like their Russian cousins. Although tens of thousands winter here only a few handfuls of birds stick around to breed in Ireland and Scotland. Whooper swans, as you might guess from their name, are exceptionally noisy. They make loud bugling calls even in flight.
In case you have ever wondered why the hissy mute swan was called mute, compared to the whooper, they are practically silent.