21st November 2025 – WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire

I’m sorry that this is the fourth blog in a row from Slimbridge but I am currently limited to where I can go and, luckily, we are able to access this reserve fairly easily and I can easily visit some of the hides. 

I’ve no need to apologise really as this is a great nature reserve and at this time of the year it is quite exciting with lots of birds arriving from the north. 

The headline news is the arrival of the Bewick swans. The first ones arrived on the 16th November, the same date the Bewick’s arrived in the winter of 2023, which marked the latest they’ve returned to the reserve since 1965. Sadly, and probably another sign of global warming, their numbers here in Gloucestershire are dwindling (Slimbridge has lost about 43% of their Bewick’s swans over the last five years). 

Bewick’s swans are the UK’s smallest swan (115 to 127 cm in length and with a wingspan of between 170 to 195 cm and weighing 6000 g) and are white with a yellow and black bill. It can be distinguished from the whooper swan by the less extensive yellow markings on its bill. Individual Bewick’s swans can be identified by looking at their bill: the pattern of black and yellow that they display is as unique as a fingerprint.

Bewick’s swans spend their winters in this country; they arrive from Siberia in late autumn, returning north again in the spring. They will often feed on fields during the day, eating crops like leftover potatoes and grain, before heading to roost on open water. As well as the Severn Estuary they are primarily seen in areas like East Anglia and Lancashire. 

The WWT website has this to say about the Bewick’s:

“Britain’s rarest, smallest and most musical swan is all about family. Extended family groups make long, dangerous migrations together to visit the UK each winter.

Their story

In 1963, Peter and Philippa Scott and their young daughter were painting Bewick’s swans at their window in Slimbridge. As they sketched, they noticed each bird’s bill markings were slightly different. They learned to recognise each one by face and gave them names.

Through their art, the Scotts discovered their new friends had loyal partners for life. Paired birds will seek each other if separated during migration, and perform joyous “triumph ceremonies” on being reunited. They also mourn following the loss of a mate, generally taking at least 1 year to re-pair and longer to breed with a new partner.

The Scott family learned the swans also form strong extended family bonds. When parents, offspring, siblings and (very occasionally) grandchildren come together at feeding sites and on the roost, their soft honking greeting is the soundtrack of Britain’s wetlands in winter.

The challenge

Every autumn, Bewick’s swans face a dangerous migration to the UK from northern Russia. Along their 3,500km route between the breeding and wintering sites there are predators, fewer wetlands and the risk of hitting power lines, but if they don’t migrate, they will be caught in the ice and snow of the arctic winter. In spring, they do it all again as they fly back to Russia. We also fear the rapidly changing climate of the Arctic will affect them.

They are illegally hunted – often mistakenly because their small size makes them resemble geese in low winter light. They are also susceptible to eating the lead ammunition sprayed from shotguns, which poisons, weakens and often kills them.”

When we arrived there were a few Bewick’s to be seen from the Rushy hide but, probably as most of the pond was frozen over, they soon flew off. Fortunately, they returned later in the morning before we left the reserve.

Elsewhere there were lots of geese (Canada, Barnacle and Greylag) on the area close to the River Severn.

There were very few waders, probably due to the shallow water (of which there is normally plenty at Slimbridge) being frozen and our main sightings were a small flock of dunlin which flew in and huddled together on a small island on the Rushy.

The Temmink’s stint, which we had seen for the first time on our last visit, was still around but at some distance from us.