Winter Wildlife

I shall continue to post the 'nature notes' column I write regularly for a few local publications. This one is mainly about swans . . .

Asked recently about my favourite winter birds, I had no hesitation in replying “Fieldfares”, since I’ve always been excited by these large and attractive winter thrushes, often to be found in large and noisy flocks. But the winter wildfowl that arrive at this time of the year are also exciting, bringing with them, often, a flavour of the frozen Arctic.

In past years, I’ve enjoyed visiting Wildfowl Trust refuges, particularly Martin Mere in Lancashire, to see the winter swans that arrive there at this time of year, to stay until March or April. The large whooper swan and the slightly smaller Bewick’s are much noisier birds than our native mute swans, though they’re not quite as silent as the name suggests. These winter swans have yellow and black bills, rather than the orange of the mute swan, and when here they may be found in large flocks or herds, within which they form family groups. The term herd is appropriate when the swans are grazing on grassland or stubble, as whooper swans (and wintering geese) frequently do. Swans will also up-end to feed on underwater vegetation - this will sometimes lead to staining of the head and neck feathers, when feeding in iron-rich waters. Both whooper and Bewick’s swans visit Martin Mere. Generally the whooper swan has a more northerly distribution in the UK.

The cygnets of both species are brown with pink bills (mute swan cygnets have black bills), with the whooper swan cygnet being generally paler than the Bewick’s. The adult whooper swan generally carries its neck very straight, unlike the curve of the native mute swan. The shorter neck of the Bewick’s swan gives it a slightly goose-like appearance, in comparison. The Bewick’s swan also has a rounder and more goose-like head than the whooper swan, and the yellow patch on its bill is smaller and more rounded. The precise pattern of the bill is different for different birds, and is useful when identifying individuals who can then be studied.

These are tremendous birds, I think, and the sight of Bewick’s swans flying over in a great V formation is not to be forgotten. The Bewick’s swan is completely an Arctic bird so far as breeding is concerned, but a few whooper swans may nest by moorland tarns in the north of Scotland, and Orkney and Shetland.

I haven’t left much space to write about other winter wildfowl. Locally these are likely to be ducks (our Canada and greylag geese are here all the year round), with wigeon, pintail, pochard and shoveler (all British breeding species) likely to visit our ponds and lakes at this time of the year. But, to mention one other white winter bird, I was delighted a couple of years ago when visiting north Norfolk in late autumn to see about a few snow geese, white with distinctive red bills and black wing tips, feeding with a larger flock of pink-footed geese. Just a few reach us each winter (they are really American birds), though there are also some escapes from captivity.