Two whooper swans spend their summer on Arran

Many whooper swans spend their winters in the UK, arriving from Iceland in late autumn and returning north in the spring.

Most records of this species on Arran are of birds on passage to or from wintering grounds, for example, on the Solway.

Their honking calls are a familiar sound in the autumn and the spring. They often travel in family groups. The earliest arrival date on Arran is September 18 and the latest departure date is May 21.

In late spring 2018, a single whooper swan was seen in fields by Mossend Pond. People were concerned it was injured but it could still fly and was never caught. While it was capable of limited flight, it was not able to maintain the sustained flight that would have enabled it to migrate to its breeding grounds in Iceland at the end of spring.

Throughout that year and subsequent years, the bird was widely reported, mainly from the Lamlash Bay area.

On December 31, a whooper swan was on the road between Shiskine and Blackwaterfoot. It was rescued by vet Charlotte Clough.

After an examination revealed no major injuries, it was released into a field in Shiskine Valley. At the end of this winter, while greylag geese wintering in the Shiskine Valley headed north to breed, the whooper swan remained and was regularly seen into early May.

Since then, there have been no further reports of a single whooper swan in Shiskine Valley. Instead, two whooper swans were reported together in Clauchlands on May 29. Had the two Whooper swans got together?

While I have no idea of the age or gender of these two birds, throughout May, June and July there have been reports of two whooper swans in the Lamlash Bay area with occasional reports of a single bird in Sannox Bay.

Keep a look out for whooper swans on Arran this autumn.

Please send any bird notes with “what, when, where” to me at Kilpatrick Kennels, Kilpatrick, Blackwaterfoot, KA27 8EY, or email me at jim@arranbirding.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you. For more information on birding on Arran purchase the annual bird report The “Arran Bird Report 2023” plus visit the website www.arranbirding.co.uk/index.html