Swans: The regal winter visitors to Yorkshire which make their way from Siberia

They are almost as large as mute swans while the Bewick's swans are distinctly smaller. Both species have black and yellow beaks rather than the orange bills of our resident mute swans.

Bewick's swans, named after the bird artist Thomas Bewick, come here from Siberia. They are a much rarer sight in the region but three have been visiting sites around the Humber, incling North Cave Wetland, Blacktoft Sands and Broomfleet.

Each Bewick's swan has a different pattern of black and yellow on the bill so that individuals can be told apart, a feature first noticed in 1964 at Slimbridge by the artist and conservationist Peter Scott.

Numbers seen in Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands are in freefall and wintering populations have totally disappeared from many traditional sites.

This is partly due to them being hunted on migration and also changes to their breeding habitats caused by global warming.

Recent studies have found that large numbers are 'short stopping' on migration and more than a third of the north west European population now spend the milder winters in northern Germany rather than continuing south west to Britain. As a result they have a much shorter journey back to Russian breeding grounds in Spring.

'Short stopping' is not only affecting Bewick's swans but other wildfowl species such as pochard and smew and eventually these annual winter visitors to Britain might totally disappear.

Other sightings included a black redstart on York Minster viewable from Dean's Park, and a hoopoe still in gardens at Rossington, South Yorkshire.

Hawfinches are still being reported, including at least ten in yew trees above Fountains Hall at Fountains Abbey.