Whooper Swans at Deeping Lakes NR

2 Adults and a juvenile

In Flight

I have been trying to get some half-decent shots of birds flying, as of now I am yet to succeed. The shots below represent the best of my efforts so far.

A trio of Whoopers

Three Common Cranes (2 adult and 1 juvenile)

The same 3 Common Cranes (the juvenile is the bird on the right)

Hopefully, I will improve as time goes by!

Winter is here

The year is starting to wind itself up, the evenings are getting darker earlier, there is a distinct nip in the air, the leaves are turning and falling from the trees and the Whooper Swans have started to arrive.

The 'swaniest' of swans has just started to make an appearance on the local patch, not in any great numbers as of yet, but there were 19 of these lovely creatures on the River Welland today.

Just two of the nineteen on show before they all took to the air as one and disappeared into the sunset.

Whooper and Bewick`s

Whooper

Whooper

Bewick`s

Some close digiscoped shots of some beautiful wild swans at Deeping High Bank. Note the differing colouration on the bill(s).

Flat out!

An unusual sight of a Whooper Swan just `chilling` (quite literally!) on the ice at Deeping High Bank yesterday. The river is now almost completely frozen, but the build up of birds continues.

Whooper Swan

Adult

Juvenile

Adult

Adult

Pair of adults

Group of juveniles

The Whooper Swans` name in latin literally means `Swan swan`. The `swaniest` of swans is the other migratory wild swan we get in the U.K. in the winter months. They breed on the tundra in Iceland and northern Scandinavia and arrive on our shores in October and leave before the middle of April.

They are larger than the Bewick`s Swan, but smaller than the Mute Swan. One way to tell this bird apart from its` cousin the Bewick`s (apart from its` size) is the amount of yellow on the bill. On the Whooper this yellow extends further along the bill, beyond the nostrils, where the Bewick`s marks end before the nostrils. Although, having said that, some birds differ and have less yellow! Every birds bill markings are unique and this is used to tell each bird apart in the absence of a leg ring. You will see in the photos above that a few are of the same adult if you look at the yellow bill markings. The birds in these photos are most probably a family group as the young do stay with their parents for their first autumn and winter.