02/01/22 - Bewick's Swans

During the festive season we were delighted to locate a family party of five Bewick’s Swans on the NNR – something of a scarcity in recent years. During the 1970’s and 80’s, numbers of wintering Bewick’s Swans were regularly between 100-250 (occasionally 300+), happily spending the winter in our relatively mild conditions, compared to those on their breeding grounds on the Russian tundra. However, since the 1990’s numbers have fallen sharply, with a mere handful of birds recorded most winters over the last decade or so – the reasons however are likely to lie outside of the reserve.

The population of Bewick’s Swans have experienced a large decline across their range, with birds now wintering in the Low Countries in Europe, possibly in response to climate change - for example there is no longer the need to fly all the way from Russia to York if they can spend the winter feeding on enough food, for example, in the Netherlands. However, maintaining good conditions for them is always important should a cold snap on the continent force herds back across the North Sea, as may be the case here – their arrival coinciding with an arrival of Smew and White-fronted Geese onto the NNR.