Icelandic whoopers swanning about

The whooper swan with its distinctive wedge-shapedyellow bill tipped with black,breeds in Iceland and through Scandinavia to Siberia and it is the Icelandic population that comes here, those from western Iceland to Ireland and western Scotland and those from the east of Iceland to other parts of Scotland, England and Europe.

Whooper swans can make the 500-mile flight from Iceland to Scotland in less than a day and at speeds of 70mph, depending on the weather. Sometimes they can fly at altitudes of 4,000ft but the majority of passages are made at lower levels and they will rest on the sea in stormy weather.

Numbers coming here each winter have increased steadily since the 1990s in line with an increase in the Icelandic population and there were nearly 25,000 present during the winter of 2005.

In our region the best site to see them is Natural England's Lower Derwent Valley Nature reserve, with a reserve record count of 167 this winter concentrated at North Duffield Carrs and Bubwith Ings near Selby at the southern end of the reserve.

Whooper swans tend to return to the same sites for many years and, encouraged by the lack of disturbance and improved habitat, the Lower Derwent Valley is of increasing importance for them

There is an average maximum winter count of 35,318 ducks, swans, geese and waders on the reserve and a recent report – Waterbirds in the UK, 2007- 2008 – ranks it as only second in importance as an inland wintering site for wildfowl to the Somerset Levels which cover an area three times larger.

The reserves importance is also emphasised by that fact that of the 25,000 birds ringed to date by staff and volunteers148 have been subsequently recovered in 24 other countries.

Whooper swans tend to arrive in September in family groups and estimates of their productivity are made by studying the proportion of first-year birds among them.

Numbers reach a peak this month as these groups merge and become larger as they prepare to return to Iceland via Scotland. There is also the chance of groups of Bewick's swans, smallerand more goose-like than the whoopers, passing through Yorkshire on their much longer journey back to their breeding grounds on the Siberian tundra.

One of these is already with the whoopers at North Duffield Carrs.

An American robin was reported in a garden at New Skelton, Cleveland on Saturday but not subsequently while a female black-throated thrush has continued to be seen at Newholm near Whitby.

A red-necked grebe, three long-tailed ducks and a great northern diver were among the birds in Filey Bay while 29 purple sandpipers were on the Brigg.

A red-necked grebe, black-throated diver, nine velvet scoters, a great skua and little gull were seen at Flamborough while large numbers of guillemots have returned earlier than usual to the RSPB's Bempton Cliffs reserve.

Two bean geese of the taiga form and a white-fronted goose have been seen at the Nosterfield Nature reserve, North Yorkshire while a tundra bean goose,smaller and darker than the taiga form, three white-fronted geese and a pale-bellied brent goose were at Flamborough. Five white-fronted geese were seen at North Duffield Carrs.

Two redhead and a drake smew were seen at Fairburn Ings while three redhead smews were on Hornsea Mere – a black-necked grebe was also seen there.

A female ferruginous duck has also been seen at Fairburn where there continue to be good sightings of water rails and the occasional bittern.

A drake ring-necked duck is still at Pugney's Country Park, Wakefield.

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