Well bloggers, it seems not everyone is that taken with the joys of nature. Declan is losing sleep over it! You see he lives beside a roost of Whooper Swans. ‘But’, I hear you say, ‘swans aren’t that noisy’ ….well these are, have a listen to the video.
There’s no picture because it’s night but the sound of the swans is real. Known previously as the North American Trumpeter Swan, they are known as Gaeilge as Eala Ghlórach; the “noisy swan”. It’s not a wonder Dec is losing sleep.
For a description of the species and comparisons with the more common Mute Swan see the BirdWatch Ireland page http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=151
They live in Iceland, a population over 20,000 and growing and they fly south for the winter, some over-wintering in Scotland and lots, as in over 12,000 come to the island of Ireland. They gather at wetlands, lakes and turloughs (see last week’s entry for a description of these!) and graze on improved grassland at various sites throughout the north and central parts of the country. They leave their grazing grounds just after dusk to return to their roosting wetland for a good chat after a hard day’s fieldwork.
Cheer up Dec, it’s not everyone has a welcoming party of whooping swans when they get home from work.