Whooper

A huge sun was hovering over South West Scotland, when I looked at the weather forecast, so we set off for the coast. Some lovely walking by the sea at Sandyhills and Kippford, all very quiet as the caravan parks were closed.

On the return we called in at Caerlaverock Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre. Watching the barnacle geese returning from field grazing was quite spectacular, but I settled for photographs of the birds on the water.

Here is a Whooper Swan. These swans are visitors to these shores, arriving from their breeding grounds in Iceland for a winter break. They migrate as families, 800 miles non-stop, from southern Iceland, arriving during October and returning in late March. Apparently bill patterns are unique to each bird, so they can be identified in this way. Certainly there were people watching them who knew individual swans and their families.

Thank you everyone who called by for my Blipday. It was a wonderful response and I felt very privileged to be a part of such a supportive community.