Page 9 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #11

WILDNOVEMBER

4 | WHOOPER SWAN
Swan song

Peter Scott noted in his 1980 book Observations
of Wildlife that the breeding grounds of British
and Irish whooper swans were a mystery.
“We favour the Scandinavian/Russian theory,”
he mused. Ringing has since shown that our
wintering population is Icelandic. After an epic
flight lasting 12–13 hours, close to the limit for
such heavy birds, the ‘super whoopers’ make
landfall in western Scotland and Ireland in late ONLINE
October or November. Then soon head on to
favoured wetlands, trumpeting as they go. THE ONE
SHOW
Whooper swan migration
TOP TIP See whooper feeds at WWT Welney,
Martin Mere and Caerlaverock: wwt.org.uk