Whooper swan

Today's the day ……………………….. to catch up

A long overdue visit today to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Reserve at Caerlaverock, on the Solway Firth southeast of Dumfries. 

It has probably been forty years since we were there last - and it has changed a lot in that time.  There are now several well-appointed observation towers and hides that make it easy to see what is really a wildfowl wonderland.  Huge flocks of swans, geese, waders and ducks create intricate patterns as they feed on the high tide and come into the Solway mudflats to roost.    

The Whooper swans are my personal favourite.  They fly 800 miles from Iceland to over-winter at Caerlaverock.  They can fly at speeds of more than 40 mph and so they may reach the coast of Scotland from Iceland in under 13 hours.  

In a few weeks they'll be back off north for the summer so it was good to see them today ……………………….