Conservationist will fly with swans from Siberia to Britain on motorised parachute

Bewick’s swans breed in Arctic Russia but spend the winter in western Europe. Some visit Ireland. 

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust scientists have studied Bewick’s in Britain for over 50 years. Ringing has revealed their migration routes but we know relatively little about the actual journeys. Now, in a radical new we-can’t-beat-them-so-let’s- join-them approach, conservationist Sacha Dench will take to the air on a motorised parachute next autumn and fly with the swans from Siberia to Britain.

The Bewick’s is the smaller of the two migrant swan species which arrive here in autumn and depart in spring. It’s easily confused with its larger cousin the whooper; both have black-on-yellow bills. The ‘nose’ of the whooper, however, has more yellow than black, while black is the dominant colour with the Bewick’s. These colour-patterns, unique to each individual, are the avian equivalent of fingerprints. The swans’ bills are photographed by the trust; being able to recognise particular swans and follow their progress from year to year has spawned one of the world’s longest-running bird studies.