For many birders this headline would mean nothing at all. By that I don’t mean they wouldn’t understand it, but simply that they’d consider it unimportant, irrelevant. After all a Black Swan is a native of Australia. It doesn’t belong here in England. Most of these birds seen in the UK, they would say, are merely escapees from private collections and not worthy of a true birder’s notice.
I suppose they have a point, but the fact is that in recent years there have been many reports of Black Swans breeding in England. They are settling down here, and as far I’m concerned (not being a purist birder) it’s a bird and I want to take its photo. In fact it’s rare, so there’s an extra pleasure in doing so.
This photo was taken in mid-November when it had already been around for two or three weeks. The second one, below, is from mid-December as it navigates the unfrozen parts of the pond on a misty, icy day.
When I was there a day or two ago there were very few swans to be seen, and no trace of this one. Maybe, I thought, it’s moved on like the recent Whooper Swan. Or possibly it’s flown over the hill to the River Derwent. I’m told it was there for a while recently before returning to the pond. Well my thoughts were wrong. It hasn’t gone but is still around as of Friday, 6th January.
