Whooper Swan

The wonderfully named Whooper Swan has arrived at Loch Flemington for another winter; and the noise they make sounds like they are trumpeting their name to the world! These are very elegant birds, similar to our own Mute Swans, but they hold their necks straighter and their bills are yellow rather than orange.

Loch Flemington is a really good spot for to do a little bird watching from a distance. There is always something going on, particularly the Moorhens and Coots fighting over territory. Today there was nearly 100 Widgeon, feeding along side the swans on the loch. Now their call is really evocative; prompting images of misty lochs at dusk. They seem to whistle; in fact Kate compared the sound to the final phrase of the ‘wolf whistle’, so we’ve named it the ‘Widgeon Whistle’. If you are walking around some water, be it low tide on the firth or a loch, and you hear a very familiar whistle: it’s a widgeon!