Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

BETWEEN mid-January and the end of March is the perfect time to see East Lancashire's wildfowl at their best.

The autumn moult has finished and the male birds are in their most attractive plumage.

Most of the species go to the arctic and northern Europe to breed but, because the arctic summer is so short, wildfowl do not have time for courtship and to incubate their eggs.

Courtship therefore takes place in Britain from January onwards and the pairs then set off on migration together.

All that remains when they reach their breeding grounds is for the female to lay fertile eggs.

Why, many people ask, don't they breed in Britain rather than waste time and effort on long migration flights.

The answer is simple -- food.

In the summer, the cold lands abound with food -- either plant or animal.

With such a bounty of food the young birds grow much faster than they would do in Britain. The wildfowl also do not have to compete for food with native British species.

To East Lancashire naturalists wintering wildfowl are wonderful subjects for study. They are large, spend most of their time on water where they are easily seen and are usually very attractive in both habits and colour. For artists and photographers wildfowl are the best subjects of all the birds.

At the moment both Bewicks and whooper swans are present, with the bewicks being more confined to the coast.

The species do look similar bit there are easy ways to distinguish them.

Whooper swans take their name from the sound they make as they fly. Their beats seem to make a sound like "whoop-ah" as their strong wings move up and down. They also make quite a loud sound which they use to make contact with others in the flight which often number several hundred. Within the flock the whoopers remain in family groups, including adults which pair for life and their cygnets.

Adult whoopers have bills which are coloured yellow and black with the yellow area ending in a point. They are large birds having a length of 150 centimetres (60 inches).

As well as being found in large flocks such as the 1,000-plus found at Martin Mere, near Southport, whoopers are seen in smaller flocks. Following the snow of late December, they have been recorded at Foulridge near Colne, Black Moss at Barley, Barrow Lodges near Clitheroe, Parsonage Reservoir near Blackburn and Stocks Reservoir in Bowland.

Bewick's swan was named after the 18th century naturalist and artist Thomas Bewick. Because the Bewick is smaller than the whooper, being only 120 centimetres (48 inches) long, it was once thought that this bird was the young of the whooper.

It was Bewick who made this distinction and apart from size the Bewick swan has a different bill pattern. This is coloured black and yellow but there is a greater area of yellow and this colour ends bluntly and is not pointed. Bewick swans tend to be found along the coastline of Britain and early in January small flocks were recorded at Southport, Fleetwood and Knott End.

I saw one adult Bewick in Foulridge on December 28 but as snow was falling I may not have been able to see one or two others.

The mute swan is the same size as the whooper and is the only one of the three British species to be resident.

As mentioned in a recent column, adolescent mute swans do gather in large groups (or herds) but the adults are already preparing for next spring's breeding season which begins early.

The mute swan has a black and orange bill and holds its next in an 'S' shape.

Both Bewick and whooper swans hold their necks straight.

Although adult male swans look similar, the male can be distinguished by a more prominent bump at the base of the bill.

All swans cope well with adverse weather conditions and certainly provide excitement for winter birdwatchers who should always be prepared to brave the cold.