be a Whooper yesterday is a juv Mute.
markings are a feature where on a Whooper they are
very faint.
This is a common local swan ring. Y 271.
Fly Flatts 0800 hrs, Full cloud cover on a SE>3 at 6 degrees with a white ground frost but good visibility and nice light clouds.
A strange game this ere birding, yesterday afternoon near time up I was watching the skies which were perfect for Whooper Swan and then as I was packing up a final scan found a swan way over in the NW corner. Whooper swan was my immediate thought with no doubt so after a few record distant shots it was time to go. At home I put the photos on my blog and that was the end of it.
Back to Fly Flatts this morning and the bird was still present but nearer to the south shore and well in camera range among 8 Greylags. Even then I did,nt twig but seeing the slight curved black bill and face marking at the base of the bill I started getting the doubts. The bird set off and flew SW towards Stoodley Pike as if it was leaving but then turned and came back to the water. It was then that I saw the strong wing markings and I realised it was a Mute Swan though still not completely convinced as I,ve had plenty Whoopers up there but never in my 53 years of birding Fly Flatts have I had a Mute.
Looking through records tonight at home neither the book
Vertebrate Fauna of the Halifax Parish, by HSS or The Birds of Halifax by NCD have any records for Mute Swan at Fly Flatts.
The bird took off a second time heading NE over the Nab and out of sight before returning again 15 minutes later as if it was lost.
Late afternoon I got a grapevine text of someone reporting a swan at Ogden but didnt know if it was a Whooper or Mute so I checked it out on my way to Fly Flatts.
On arrival at Ogden I met Nick Small ( director of Country File ) who I bump into several times and who keeps me informed of local sightings, along with the lady from the info centre who were stood near the swan in the duck feeding corner. It looked like the same juv Mute swan I had seen earlier and when tempted out of the water with some duck seed its revealed its leg ring Y271.
Back at Fly Flatts I got in touch with Judy Hogg (Swan Rescue) and gave her the details to which she said Shibden Park had a juv gone missing, then a few minutes later she came back to me confirming that the swan was a recently rung bird from Shibden Park. She also confirmed that the odd ball swan at the park was indeed a Polish as sussed out by MC and AC earlier in the year.
Quite a story that and proof that you never jump to conclusions in birding without checking it out first. In my defence no one picked it out on last night blog and in the end a Mute is a much better find than a Whooper being a new species for Fly Flatts
Thanks to Nick Small and the info centre lady for their help and once again a big thank you to Judy Hogg for her immediate information about the swan. Hopefully it will find its way back to its family.
Visible Migration was surprisingly quiet in the decent conditions and again no waders although we are now at the peak time for Grey Plover, watch this space.
Vis Mig
14 Mipits.................................>S
72 BH gull..............................>SE
31 Woodpigs..........................>SE
4 Reed Bunting.....................>W
7 Swallow.............................>S
Present
8 Greylag
14 Canada
1 juv Mute Swan
4 LBB gull inc 1 intermedius
1 Peregrine
2 Kestrel
BS