Bewick's Swans in Scotland (1 Viewer)

[JTweedie]

There was something on social media last week about some Bewick's Swans that had arrived in Scotland, but then flew back across the sea and ended up (I think) in Belgium or the Netherlands.

But it got me wondering - do any Bewick's Swans ever overwinter in Scotland?

I suspect I'd need to go to one of the English sites to see them, but somewhere a bit closer would be nice.

 

[LittleBitOfBreadNoCheese]

Not mentioned in the last Clyde region report. I saw them many years ago at Welney WWT so less bothered than I might be.

Welney Wetland Centre

From dawn to dusk, experience the sights and sounds of thousands of wild swans on the fens.While other parts of the natural world hibernate, WWT Welney comes to life in winter.

www.wwt.org.uk

 

[JTweedie]

Yeah had a feeling that most were around Norfolk and the surrounding area. I guess I should arrange a winter trip down there sometime.

I wonder why they don't come to Scotland like the Whooper Swans do.

 

[aberdeenshirebirdtours]

As well as the pair you mentioned from social media, there have been a couple that appeared to overwinter this year at Strathbeg (seen on multiple occasions at the start of winter) and 4 were seen together near Fraserburgh for a few weeks in January. There were also another pair seen at the same location as the “famous” pair a few days later.

This winter has been the best for Bewick’s swans up here that I can remember. Normally we might get 1 every couple of years, but at least 6 birds this season (4 at Fraserburgh and the tagged pair) and possibly more.

 

[david kelly]

Small numbers of Bewick’s Swans used to winter among the Whooper Swans in East Lothian but are now extremely rare.

An excellent resource for historical Scottish bird records is

Online Scottish Bird Report

Search Reports from all over Scotland Online Scottish Bird Report (oSBR) puts hundreds of local bird reports (and over 100,000 species accounts) at your fingertips. Want to know where to find Corn Buntings in Fife, or where to look for Smew in Dumfries and Galloway. Or are you researching...

www.the-soc.org.uk

Bewick’s was annual in Lothian between 1978 and 1997 and since then there have been three records.

David

 

[Farnboro John]

I've had the odd one at Caerlaverock in the past (the "three species on Folly Pond" trick) but haven't been there for some years and would have to check if I had any last time anyway.

John

 

[edenwatcher]

We haven't had any winter in Fife for some years. I remember a party at Ballo reservoir some years ago and a neck-collared bird around 2006 near the Perth and Kinross border. They were occsional with the whooper flock on the Eden but not in recent times.

Rob

 

[delia todd]

We haven't had any winter in Fife for some years. I remember a party at Ballo reservoir some years ago and a neck-collared bird around 2006 near the Perth and Kinross border. They were occsional with the whooper flock on the Eden but not in recent times.

Rob

Yes we saw the collared bird on our first Scottish Bash. Kindly found for us by your wife!!

https://www.birdforum.net/threads/scottish-bash-25th-26th-february-2006.49582/page-6#post-534441

 

[JTweedie]

Thanks for the updates. Sounds like best bet then is the northeast, but there's no real guarantee of seeing them in Scotland. Perhaps they like it a bit milder down in the south.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Thanks for the updates. Sounds like best bet then is the northeast, but there's no real guarantee of seeing them in Scotland. Perhaps they like it a bit milder down in the south.

When I was young the rule of thumb was that Bewick's predominated in the south of Britain and Whoopers in the north. That was sort of true then but I think these days Bewick's don't really predominate anywhere. The reasons behind them becoming rarer are perhaps to do with it being too mild these days i.e. they're short-stopping nearer to the breeding areas and aren't reaching Britain.

 

[JTweedie]

Yes that was always my thought about their distribution too - we got Whoopers, England got Bewick's.

Is there any evidence that climate change is affecting Whooper Swan migration too?

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Yes that was always my thought about their distribution too - we got Whoopers, England got Bewick's.

Is there any evidence that climate change is affecting Whooper Swan migration too?

I guess it might, although most of our Whoopers come from Iceland and there aren't many places to 'short stop' between Iceland and Britain, unlike with Bewick's coming from Russia where they have the whole of northern Europe they could potentially use. Here's the BTO page for Whoopers, which gives information on their changing numbers and distribution:

Whooper Swan

www.bto.org

Numbers are increasing, which is perhaps the main reason they're occupying new areas. Here's the same page for Bewick's:

Bewick's Swan

www.bto.org

 

[david kelly]

Yes that was always my thought about their distribution too - we got Whoopers, England got Bewick's.

Is there any evidence that climate change is affecting Whooper Swan migration too?

Our Whooper Swans mostly come from Iceland.

Numbers in Lothian seem to be stable.

David

 

[david kelly]

Our Whooper Swans mostly come from Iceland.

Numbers in Lothian seem to be stable.

David

I guess it might, although most of our Whoopers come from Iceland and there aren't many places to 'short stop' between Iceland and Britain, unlike with Bewick's coming from Russia where they have the whole of northern Europe they could potentially use. Here's the BTO page for Whoopers, which gives information on their changing numbers and distribution:

Whooper Swan

www.bto.org

Numbers are increasing, which is perhaps the main reason they're occupying new areas. Here's the same page for Bewick's:

Bewick's Swan

www.bto.org

Beat me to it and your answer is better!

 

[JTweedie]

Thanks guys. Yeah I could have looked it up but thought it would be a nice discussion point. Numbers of Whoopers where I am seem to be quite stable too.

 

[Farnboro John]

Of course large numbers of Whoopers do come to East Anglia, which is hardly North....

John

 

[JTweedie]

Well you understand the perception. Bird A comes to your neck of the woods. Bird A and Bird B goes to this other place. Then it's Bird B you're thinking about when you go to the other place!

Although when I was in Spain last year, some people in the group I was with wondered why I was bothering with Blue Tits. Well I wanted to count everything I saw!

 

[Flycatcher 123]

A few in NE Scotland at the minute
2 at Meikle loch and the Ythan Estuary, A few around Fraserburgh and 1 at Loch of Strathbeg.
Birdtrack is good for these sightings.

 

[Mark Lew1s]

Generally Bewick's is a rare bird in Scotland with fewer than ten records per year over the last 10 years. It's in decline and is likely to be considered as a national rarity in a few years if the trend continues. Here's a breakdown from Scottish recording areas between 2012/2019 and a graph with awful axes - on the x axis year 1 is 2018 and year 20 is 1998

 

[Flycatcher 123]

Just created a new thread on Birds and Birding section for NE Scotland Spring migrants this year! A bit early though! Could add the Bewick's swans to it!