Cound Floods - Whooper Swans

Cound Floods produced a good return from an hour of scoping and after 20 mins of so, a group of 13 Whooper Swans paddled in! Shame they were at some 400m away!!

Here are eleven of them...

and the full thirteen...

No question that the Whoopers were Birds of the day! Also seen was the GWE once more plus 5 Mandarin in flight.

Venus Pool - Whooper Swans

 About time I took a picture of two and with a couple of Whooper Swans dropping into VP, it would have been rude not too...

Once they relocated at the southern end and started 'calling / head bobbing', it was just a question of 'when' they would depart...

They were too close to catch together sadly...

Love these high energy moments!

Undercarriage tucked in and away they went...

Edgerley - Whooper Swans inc JZH

Two families of Whooper Swans were settled in a field opposite the Royal Hill pub today, found by John Reeves. They were in two 'loose' family groups: 2ad + 3juv and 2ad + 1juv mid morning. Another one dropped in, making 9 in total. One of the adults was wearing a yellow darvic ring and despite them being 300m + distant, I did my best to get a meaningful image of the details?

Two adults plus one juvenile...

Two adults plus three juveniles...

Adult which dropped in to make nine in total...

Here's the best I could do to decipher the ring letters which are JZH

This is a returning adult which I photographed in flight during the winter of 2019/20 on 19th Jan 2020. For more info

see here.

Melverley Floods - Whooper swans

This was my fourth visit to the area which had been pretty unproductive on the Whooper Swan front! Today however, I was looking at a decent number, nineteen in total and they were not too distant!

There were two family group, here with two juvs (plus one)...

Adults were randomly scattered around...

Another family group, this time with three juvs!

The interaction between swans wasn't always good natured as the pair of Mute Swans who considered this area as home, kept trying to evict the interlopers (even various other Mutes too!)

It was mostly posturing and spitting none of the swans  really gave way

Wingflaps too!

Finally order was restored with no victor declared!

Filling the frame this time!

The big family serenely paddling to quieter waters!

My annual Whooper fix at last!

Betton Abbots - Whooper Swans

Hot on the heels of the VP Bewick's Swan, news of two local adult Whooper Swans also emerged via Tom Lowe. It took three visits to the general area to hit lucky...

They were accompanied by six Mutes, not always welcoming!

After facing this one off, they got back to feeding...

Let feeding / resting swans lie...

 

Venus Pool - Whooper Swan invasion!

After a quiet catch up with guys in the hide at Venus Pool and only the long staying Egyptian Goose to show for my patience, I decided to check the arable field. It was even quieter there but the lack of action was about to be forgotten once I reached the oak tree and checked the fishing pool! First a family group of 5 Yellow billed Swans... then two adults plus a juv... then another four adults... what was going on? Well, after checking a few images, there were... 12 Whooper Swans going on!! (Eight adults and 4 juvs). Dave Chapman  joined me and in between showers, it would have been rude not to confirm the numbers and age the swans plus take an image or two? There's probably nearer 20 images here, I couldn't make my mind up which to use!!

Despite there being different groups, this image was a one off with all four juveniles present tagging along together...

Generally however,  the family 'group of five' with three youngsters would keep together with one or both of the parents always with them.

Sometimes cruising randomly...

Or in a procession!

Eventually they gave some quite close passes in the corner of the pool!

 One to one moments...

Three adults together...

And the three juvs...

A one and only wing flap!

A final solo portrait or juv and adult!

And curiously, this quirky moment is probably my favourite?

 The swans were clearly deadbeat on the water, from time to time simply nodding off!

It isn't always about the rares! As birding moments go, this was right up there with the best. An unforgettable Whooper show!