Summing up our swan squad successes 

The whooper swan is thriving which is certainly something to celebrate and support

Whooper Swans on the River Suck in Roscommon. The International Swan Census took place last weekend and hundreds of Whooper Swans were recorded across Ireland by staff of BirdWatch Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and by volunteer birdwatchers

Some sounds feel as though they can transport us back in time. Listening to whooper swans calling out over a wetland at the break of day, I imagine the same chorus of loud, trumpeting calls echoing out over wild marshes and coastal wetlands thousands of years ago. Sounds, though, leave no trace in the fossil record.

Each year, for longer than we can know, wild swans have been casting the soundtrack to winter days across Irish wetlands. Their calls are deeply resonant and carry far. Apparently, these whooper swans are even more vocal during breeding season, though I’m quite content with the spine-tingling voluptuous calls we can listen out for right here in Ireland. In spring, they will journey back to their Icelandic breeding grounds, travelling, as they always do, in family groups.