The Bewick's Of Slimbridge

The Bewick's of Slimbridge

Image: Ben Cherry/WWT

From frosty Arctic tundra
Across a thousand miles
Bewick’s Swans come winging
To reach the British Isles
Faithful mates and offspring
They have their chosen spot
Heading back to Slimbridge
Where Sir Peter Scott
Established his first centre
To study our wildfowl
And many different species
Are found here cheek by jowl
Bills of black and yellow
Help identify
Those each year returning
From out a winter sky
On lake before observatory
The swans swoop in to feed
As whistle sounds a signal
For scattering scoops of seed
Stately necks of purest white
Stand out among the throng
Of geese and multicoloured ducks
They all have come along
To share this daily bounty
When day descends to night
A watery whirl of feathers
As for the grain they fight
Pochards, mallards, shelduck
Pintails and tufted duck
Scrambling for a morsel
Each trying for its luck
All too soon the Bewick’s
Will go their chosen ways
Heading off to far North land
To spend their summer days.