I remember collecting James from school one Friday afternoon when he was 11 and telling him I was taking him a mystery tour, that we were going somewhere really special.
We stopped off at the chippie en route and James was bursting to know where we were heading, especially as it was only a short drive.
We ended at the Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust in Welney for the floodlit winter feed which people travel for miles around to watch. It is spectacular.
Each winter tens of thousands of Whooper and Bewick’s swans make their way from Iceland and Arctic Russia to spend the winter on the Ouse Washes at Welney. It really is a magical sight to see them swoop in. They look so effortlessly graceful, so Concorde like.
It’s a favourite haunt of mine, so I’m very concerned to learn that climate change could be the cause of fewer migratory swans and geese flying in. According to figures recorded in 2006-07, the number of birds fell by half from 130,000 to 64,000. As well as the Bewick, other species have worryingly declined too, including the Dunlin, one of the UK’s most abundant waders, which was the lowest since 1970, while avocets have increased in numbers.
Dr Debbie Pain, director of conservation at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, which has a reserve at Welney, said the UK one of the most important countries in the world for some of these birds.
But she is becoming increasingly concerned about the declining numbers of migratory birds. It could be they are taking advantage of milder winters by staying on the continent or finding other places to roost. Conservation action is needed urgently to reverse these declines, but what?
Does this mean we are likely to see an increase of tropical migratory birds attracted to our warmer shores instead of the familiar wetland waders, geese and swans?
I hope you like this pic which I took at Welney a couple of years ago. I’ve bought a new zoom lens for my Nikon and look forward to trying it out again soon.
Let’s hope this will not be a swan song for the Bewicks…
I couldn’t agree with you more, Ellee! A fantastic shot that was obviously well worth the time and energy it took to capture the moment! Very nicely done!!!:)
Beautiful photo. Lovely idea to take James off like that – an unexpected adventure!
[...] Ellee Seymour – MCIPR, PRESS CONSULTANT, JOURNALIST, POLITICAL AND … [...]
I used to work for the Wildfowl Trust at Martin Mere in Lancashire (it was the place where the BBC did ‘Autumn Watch’ in 2006 and 2007).
I started work there in early/mid 70′s – right at the start of them opening the site. The Curator at the time was the late Peter Gladstone, great Grandson of William Ewart Gladstone the Victorian PM. He was a great bloke – they were great times. We had nothing, just really dedicated people working for peanuts. I wasn’t paid by the Trust – I was engaged as the country’s first ManPower Services Commission employee. Basically, the Trust gave me a job (Graphic Designer) and the government picked up the tab. It was a great life – I designed their first kids mag, various exhibitions and whenever it was a nice day outside, I would announce to my boss that I would like to go and do some videoing with our brand new (donated by Sony) state of the art video camera. It was bloody huge! The battery alone was the size of a small car – and lifting it was an exercise in rupturism…
I met Sir Peter Scott a few times – he even drew me a picture of a goose once – which I still have. I also met my future wife there.
The reason for the centre being there at all was because for thousands of years, the Pinkfooted Goose has migrated there from Iceland, Greenland and Spitzbergen. At times, over 70% of the world’s population are centred in a tiny area of the Lancashire plain, feeding on missed carrots from the recently dug up harvest.
Sometimes, there are so many in the sky, it looks just amazing, thousands of geese in hundreds of V-formations… The Luftwaffe on steroids.
What is really weird is that they always seemed to arrive on the same day every year – September 15th.
the decline is here as well!
Thanks, Ellee.
PS: I’m watching Delia and thinking of you – hummus and greek pitta bread. Wine and friends. Mmmm
Hi Sally, I’d love you to join me on my next trip, perhaps on a Friday evening when you drive to Cambridge.
Peter, thanks for the meme link, I’ll check it out. Good to hear from you.
Philipa,this is a worrying issue, but I don’t see how we can make any changes to prevent what migratory birds do by instinct.
There is some more info on this subject here from 2003, so this has been discussed over the last five years:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030326073630.htm
Climate change could also affect the abundance and diversity of birds. The idea is that warmer winters could increase the survival of birds that live in an area year-round, which could give migratory birds more competition for resources such as food and nest sites when they return to breed in the spring – and that in turn could decrease the total number of migratory birds as well as the number of species.
Ultimately, warmer winters will probably decrease the number of long-distance migratory bird species in Central Europe. In addition, the birds’ migratory behavior will probably evolve. The migratory behavior of bird populations can change in only a few generations, and several populations of wrens, skylarks and other short-distance migrants have stopped migrating in the last 20 years.
I have always wanted to go and see the swans at welney so if you go again this year let me know as i would love to come with you
Sorry this one‘s off topic, but I’ve tagged you in a meme!
Go here to find out http://petermartinovic.blogspot.com/2008/11/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-me-meme.html
Yes I like the photo too. But Ellee, is it due to climate change or are the numbers of birds simply down? Is the population constant?
I think I took about 80 shots to get it, but it was worth it.
Great photo!