Friday the thirteenth....

or....A Bewick's Swan Of Note.

Bewick's Swan. Marc Heath

If you're silly enough to believe in superstitions Friday 13 is bad news. I don't go for such rubbish and last Friday was anything but bad news for me, for starters I got in some birding which produced - amongst a few other nice finds - the excellent bonus of a Bewick's Swan with nine Whooper Swans in a stubble field at Fluke Hall. But these wintering birds bring with them another bonus in that some can be found as marked individuals, and my bird was just one of those. After struggling for several minutes to attempt to read the ring through a hedge, contact with my man at WWT was rapidly followed up the next day by some interesting data from this bird which turned out to be in excess of 22 years old having been ringed as an adult at Martin Mere  WWT in December 1990. As you would be inclined to expect the creature has travelled a few thousand mind boggling miles in its life so far and has been recorded in our own LDBWS recording area just twice in all those years, even more remarkably quite possibly in the very same field on both occasions. With some amazing migratory flights to and from its summer/winter grounds having visited Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany in the process, this bird had been a delight to find and observe. 

Whooper Swans. David Cookson

One of the nine Whooper Swans with the Bewick's Swan was also ringed and had been marked at Caerlaverock, Dumfries in February 2011 having since been first recorded at Fluke Hall last Friday 13 January.

And finally....

Short-eared Owls. Brian Rafferty

You'd be well advised to treat yourself to some spectacular bird behaviour caught equally spectacularly on film HERE

Thanks to Mark/David/Brian for the usual brilliant photography.

I'D SOONER BE BIRDING!