Whooper Swan

Above: Whooper Swan
Below: Bewicks Swan

The whooper swan is a regular winter visitor to the UK from cold Northern Arctic regions. It tends to be very gregarious gathering in fairly large groups but is by no means wide-spread throughout the country. In fact, most seem to head for East Anglia or the River Severn estuary area. However, a number do visit the North West. In particular Martin Mere, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust site, near Rufford in Lancashire.

People have often considered swans to be beautiful birds and quite rightly so. Most are more used to seeing the resident mute swans but Whoopers are just as beautiful. Mute swans have the familiar orange and black beak with the prominent black knob over the beak, between the eyes. This knob is lacking in the whooper swan and the beak is bright yellow and black rather than orange and black. However, it is more likely to be confused with the rarer winter visitor, Bewicks Swan, which also appears at Martin Mere in smaller numbers.

For a start the Whooper Swan is larger than Bewicks Swan. It's neck is much longer and is carried straighter when swimming. Bewicks is a little more curved. Both have black and yellow beaks, but on the Whooper the yellow is more extensive and forms a point into the black portion of the beak. On Bewicks, the yellow is less extensive and forms a round (or at least non-pointed) join with the black portion of the beak. Finally, on the Whooper, the profile from the tip of the beak to the top of the head is almost a straight line, if anything a slightly convex curve. In Bewicks Swan the profile from the tip of the beak to the top of the head is distinctly concave.

There are a number of fields, marshes and lakes where these birds turn up each year but Martin Mere has to be the best place in the North West both to see them and photograph them. Hale Hide, Raines Observatory or Swanlink Hide are the best three of the ten hides at Martin Mere for Whoopers. They allow you to get close enough to get good photographs of the birds both on the ground and in flight. You should be aware that Raines Observatory has non-opening glass viewing windows that may affect your cameras auto-focus. It, and Hale Hide, also face South and so for much of the day the birds are back-lit on bright sunny days. Go early or late if the weather promises to be good or use Swanlink hide (west facing) in the morning.