Swan for the Photo Album

It really was all go here at Frampton yesterday...

Currently living out on the reserve we have some 50 whooper swans. Winter visitors from Iceland that escape the much harsher weather there to come to the (comparatively) benign climate of Britain before heading back in the spring to breed. They can be told apart from the more familiar mute swans from their black and yellow bills and the way they keep their necks upright, rather than the S bend shown by mute swans.

 Whooper swan by Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)

Over the past couple of weeks we'd been growing concerned about one of the whooper swans. Whilst the other whoopers would overnight on the reserve before heading out to local fields to graze, this one just stayed put. Initially it seemed quite happy to paddle around or go for short flights. But as time wore on, it moved around less and less, prompting enquiries from members of the public as to if it was alright.

Now, in cases like these, we generally try to let nature do its own thing. Birds can fall ill and become very lethargic. But often if you just leave them alone, they will recover. To go chasing after every poorly looking bird would not only result in a lot of disturbance for all the other birds, but would probably stress out the poorly bird itself. And to no avail. Even on their last legs, most birds will do anything to avoid being captured by humans.

But over the course of the weekend, we really got very worried indeed about the swan. It pretty much stopped moving totally. Just sitting in the same place, not even changing position. it would sometimes raise its head up, but that was about it.

Now, we in the RSPB are a wildlife conservation charity. Not (as many people still seem to think) a welfare organisation. Which means we don't have vets, animal hospitals or the like. But we know who does. So it was a quick call to the RSPCA to see if they could come out and do something about it.

The RSPCA sent out one of their lovely officers to gauge things, and she agreed it did look very poorly indeed. So, the question was how to get to it. The bird was on an island on the scrapes, surrounded by water. The RSPCA lady didn't have a boat and neither did we. So, it was a quick call to then local fire brigade who very kindly came out with a crew and one of their boats.

Having launched the boat, the lady from the RSPCA boarded and, together with three burly firemen, set off towards the swan. The water was so shallow the firemen actually found it easier to wade and drag the boat behind them.

True to form, as soon as the swan realised they were after it, it was off! Showing more energy than it had done for the past week, it was off the island and paddling away. With the boat and crew in hot pursuit. There was even some wagering from the firemen remaining on shore as to if it would give them the slip completely. However, it was obviously weak as it didn't attempt to fly and quickly tired. A four-pronged apprach to the bird boxed it in and without too much in the way of kerfuffle, it was caught and placed inside a carrying bag.

 The swan being brought ashore (photo by Chris Andrews)

Upon returning to the shore, the lady from the RSPCA checked the bird over. There did not seem to be any obvious injuries, but the bird was very emaciated. it had evidently not been feeding well for a while. It was then taken off to a local wildlife hospital where hopefully it will be nursed back to full strength. Probably too late for it to migrate back to Iceland where it evidently came from (it had an Icelandic leg ring on) but staying over the summer will not harm it, some older birds do so rather than making the long trek back. I have sent off details of the ring to the relevant people, so hopefully in due course we might learn a little more about the bird.

The captured swan (Photo by Chris Andrews)

So, many thanks to both the RSPCA and the Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue service for their efforts. Job well done!