Bailies Wildlife Group Asks for Sightings of Wooper Swans
December 2019
Wooper swans are large white swans with a long beak with a triangle yellow pattern – the resident mute swans have beaks that are mainly red. Woopers are often seen in groups of family parties have a characteristic and far-reaching musical bugle-like call.
The birds are believed to winter in the Don Valley from Alford down to Kintore, particularly around Whitehouse and Monymusk. The Bailies wildlife group would like to know where these beautiful birds are and is asking for sightings.
They would like to know where the swans are (a grid reference or name of farm etc.), the date they were seen, and how many were there. Any other information about the sighting such as the crop in the field and if they were with other birds is useful but not essential.
Please report sightings to the group’s bird expert John Wills at bilbo.monymusk@btinternet.com.
The swans arrive in the UK in the autumn and will stay on their favoured sites until late March/early April when they will return to Iceland. Unlike Mute Swans which normally spend most of their time on water Whoopers commonly graze crop fields by day and roost on water at night.
Fiona Cormack, the Outreach Officer for the Bailies of Bennachie said:
“We are very lucky to have a lot of these beautiful birds wintering in parts of Donside, and would like to have more information about where they are. Information from sightings will help build a clearer picture.”
