Directly in front of the hide, a family of six Whoopers were constantly feeding. The cob was defending the immediate area quite vigorously and even when three of the birds hauled out, and he drifted away to preen, two cygnets continued to see off other birds as they fed. It seemed likely had arrived very recently.The male bird carried a yellow darvic.
Whooper family
LHI, the family's cob, has been visiting Welney for the last 10 years
Whooper swans gathered together as families, were in pairs or singly, feeding on grain near the bank, some birds agitated the mud with their feed to bring grain up to the surface, swimming, loafing or eating potatoes from the heaps provided to further supplement feeding.
LIY
ZAA, all white plumage and bill not yet yellow indicates a 2nd year bird
XKD carries a 3 digit orange darvic
Four character orange darvics like 4BLM are part of Mike Reed's
project on Mute Swan's in the South east/east of the UK
As well as the swans, there was a supporting cast of many geese, ducks and Black-tailed Godwits.
