First Bewick’s swan to arrive… and last to leave (From Worcester News)

First Bewick’s swan to arrive… and last to leave

7:49am Monday 3rd March 2008 in

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He was the first to arrive back in October, and today was the one, solitary Bewick's swan left at WWT Slimbridge as the rest of the wintering Bewick's left on their Spring migration back to Russia.

Hosta, a yearling, favoured the Tundra Pen on the reserve throughout the winter and was found there after the feeds, most mornings and afternoons, with eight of WWT Slimbridge's captive Bewick's swans.

The 271-strong group of Bewick's that spent the last few months at Slimbridge have been leaving in groups throughout the past couple of weeks. The night of the earthquake (26 February) saw the group literally halve from 80 to 40 in one night, and last night's south-westerly winds seems to have encouraged twelve of the remainder to start their spring migration, leaving just Hosta on the reserve this morning.

This year was Hosta's first official visit to Slimbridge, as WWT's Bewick's Swan Project Officer, Julia Newth, explains: "Bill patterns on cygnets are not developed enough for individual recognition so we cannot be completely sure whether yearlings have visited before (unless they are ringed as cygnets).

"However, we suspect that Hosta visited Slimbridge last year as a cygnet as he seemed so familiar with the surroundings from the moment of arrival and has been relaxed enough to even take feed from the hand on occasion."