03/09/2018
High
cygnet numbers suggest that Bewick's
Swan has enjoyed a bumper breeding season in Russia. In total, 24
cygnets and 10 family parties were recorded by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
(WWT) during an annual trip to the Russian Arctic, where the birds nest in
remote tundra. This news is potentially a positive development for the
Critically Endangered species, after just one cygnet was recorded during last
year’s expedition, on the back of a dire breeding season.
This
year, the team tagged 60 Bewick's Swans, 10 of which had been ringed before.
The WWT makes the 3,218-km trip every year in order to ring the swans, many of
which winter on British soil. These populations, west of the Taimyr Peninsula,
migrate via the White Sea, Baltic Sea and the Elbe estuary to wintering grounds
in Denmark and The Netherlands, as well as Britain.
WWT
Conservation Scientist Kane Brides was delighted with the trip's findings,
commenting: "This is a definite indication of a better breeding season
than last year, when spring was late and the birds didn't have as much of a
window to breed. Thankfully the weather was OK this year, allowing the swans to
get on. In the next four weeks the Bewick's will begin leaving the Arctic to
begin their epic journey through Europe. We hope this snapshot means there will
be more cygnets in tow with their families."
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