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oucanhearthembeforeyouseethem.Wild

swansappearballeticwhencapturedin

f light or serenely gliding on water at a

distance, but up close, really close, they f lap

andhonkandpeckandbicker.Andthanksto

thepassionandcommitmentofoneman,we

canseethisspectacleofwildbirdseverywinter...

ThegulfstreamkeepstheUKuniquelytemperateforits

northerly latitude, making a much shorter and, therefore,

safermigrationforwildbirdsfromArcticlands.SirPeter

Scott,sonofthefamousAntarcticexplorer,sawthatthere

wasanopportunitytocreatewildlifereserveshereand

foundedtheWildfowlandWetlandsTrustatSlimbridgein

Gloucestershire in 1946.

Inautumn,asdaylightreduces,wildswansintheir

thousandsfindtheirwaytothesereserves.Inahideamong

thecacophonyofhonksandsquawks,youaresoclosetothe

water,youcanforgetthey’rewildbirds.Buttheyarenot

thehaughtysemi-tamemuteswansresidentinparksand

villageponds.Thesearebewick’sfromArcticRussiaand

whooperswansfromIceland.There’slittletodistinguish

them; the noisier whooper bill has a yellow wedge while

bewick’shaveasmallerWshape.Buteachbird’sbill

patternisunique,likeafingerprint,enablingthosewho

studythemtopickoutindividualsorpairsastheymatefor

life,earningthemtheirplaceasasymboloffidelity.

At Martin Mere in Lancashire – a scenic 600-acre f latland
of water f lickering in low winter sunshine – I met Flash, a
whooper, and his mate and heard his story. Swans are big,
often clumsy birds that sometimes collide with power
cables. A farmer found Flash (the name came later) with a
burned and broken wing, reserve staff fed him, gave him
antibiotics and soon Flash was back out there fighting his
corner. But when the swans left in the spring, he stayed on
at Martin Mere. His mate left, too, but come winter she was
one of the first to return, greeting Flash enthusiastically.
I watched a family with five nervy cygnets, cautious and
reserved, skirting the edges of the honking melee on the
lake, weighing up how it all works. The cygnets will stay
with their parents until they migrate, supervised by a few
older swans on the arduous journey of up to 2,500 miles.
The stats are astonishing: whoopers weigh 10 kilos
or more yet with a 2.5 metre wing span can travel a
phenomenal 60mph with the wind behind them, averaging
around 45mph on the journey. Seeing swans swoop in from
the sky, it is clear to see how jumbo jets replicate their
movements – the wing angle changes to brake in the air,
legs released; but they’re not graceful like a heron or
menacing like a bird of prey, there’s an endearing
clumsiness to wild swans. And they seem made for winter.
You can see wild swans until spring on WWT reserves from
ILLUSTRATION: ZUZA MIŚKO Dumfries to East Anglia; find out more at wwt.org.uk.

Words:LISASYKES

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FRESH (^) | JANUARY NATURE