The frozen circle of Whooper life

The frozen circle of a Whooper’s life A film by Grant Norman Words, narration, and incidental music by David Bradley Each winter, they arrive in their thousands. White, winter visitors flying in from the frozen north. Most will have come from their breeding grounds in Iceland. They navigation the east coast and sight land in North Norfolk. They will keep flying to their usual splashing grounds at Welney. The Whooper Swan. The vast squadrons roost overnight on the waters, safe from foxes and other landlocked predators. When dawn breaks, they head for the fields. Where they will hoover up the green-top residues of beet and potato harvests. Before returning to their watery roosts each dusk. In late 2020, the farmland around Welney and the Ouse Washes were floodier and floodier. The Whoopers were compelled to spread their wings and search farther afield. However, by January almost as soon as Fen Bridge Farm had harvested their sugarbeet. Several dozen arrived. The numbers have grown and grown. Everyone in the village is asking everyone else about the honking and whooping. Is it geese? What are those birds? It’s amazing to see when you catch sight of them from the Lode or Les King Wood. By the end of January, almost 500 were on the flooded field there. Most of the greentops seem to have been purged from the land.They will most likely soon move on…to “pastures” new, although it’s worth noting that some are not even flying to roost these last two...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Birds Source Type: blogs