Searching for Whooper Swans - 28th January
I've always had a soft spot for the elegant swan. When I started birding, flicking through my wetland birds FSC guide, I found out that more than one species visits the UK. Ever since I've wanted to see a Whooper or Benwicks, but never heard of any sightings locally (and rarely ventured out in winter)! Last week I found out they'd been sighted along the River Trent in Nottingham and were on the Attenborough NR sightings board. So after numerous sightings of them in fields along the Trent (Thrumpton for those local) I drove to Trent Lock and walked towards Attenborough determined to see them. After encountering a few friendly Mute Swan (above), I found the Whooper Swans amongst a field of Mutes. Being quite far away I struggled to get decent photos but the best are below.
The excitement continued as a little further down I found a flock of geese, Candian, Greylag and Bean Goose! Bean Goose is another first for me, but something spooked them so it was a brief encounter. When I walked further down the river I found a single male Goldeneye (a first) then entered the reserve to meet my Dad. I stumbled upon another first, the Pintail. Four firsts in one hour, pretty good going!
A male and female Mandarin were also showing well by the visitor centre. Taking my mind off the fact I'd just scratched my camera lens. We stayed around in an attempt to see the Starling murmurations (around 6000 Starlings have been coming into roost at Attenborough in the evenings). The light night meant they didn't come in as early as expected, so we missed the bulk as we headed home to warm up. We did however, catch the small 'warm-up act'. I'm planning on heading back to see the murmuration this week.
A very successful day!
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