Overview

Family - Swans, ducks and geese (Anatidae).

The whooper swan is a large white swan, bigger than a Bewick's swan. It has a long thin neck, which it usually holds erect, and black legs. Its black bill has a large triangular patch of yellow on it. It is mainly a winter visitor to the UK from Iceland, although a couple of pairs nest in the north. The estuaries and wetlands it visits on migration and for winter roosts need protection. Its winter population and small breeding numbers make it an Amber List species.

Comment

These whoopers were a very long way off, feeding on grass in a field near the peat works in Sharpham on the Somerset Levels.  These are little more than record shots taken as they were with the 7D, 500mm + 1.4x and 2x teleconverters and then heavily cropped.