6 days ago
19
The sea is rough and turbid, with big, grey waves breaking white all along the pebbled length of Chesil Beach, but the water in the lagoon behind is merely ruffled. Here at the westernmost end, the shore is white not with surf but with hundreds of mute swans.
There has been a swannery at Abbotsbury since the 11th century, when Benedictine monks began to manage the wild swans that gathered on the sheltered Fleet lagoon. To this day, cygnets hatching here belong not to the crown, but to descendants of the Strangways family, who have managed the flock for 15 generations.
The birds are free to come and go, but about 600 choose to stay at the swannery year-round, where they are fed daily. This winter, they were hungrier than usual because frequent storm surges kept water levels high, meaning it was too deep for them to reach the eelgrass beds.
As a result, the swanherd Steve Groves has been feeding them twice as often. When he appears wheeling a barrow filled with wheat, the swans quickly congregate. Some fly in on creaking wings, but most walk after him, pacing with a stately, rocking gait on their black webbed feet. He throws the grains on the bank and in the water, and they dabble eagerly, grunting softly to one another, diamond droplets of spray scattering on their crisp plumage.
Many have oddly thickened and bulbous lower necks. This, Steve explains, is a sign that they have recovered from bird flu. When the disease first arrived in the colony in 2008, it caused many losses, especially among juveniles. Since then, the current strain has become less virulent and blood tests show that most birds acquire immunity.
Bird flu and its spread have been exacerbated by shifting climate patterns, which have also changed the mix of species visiting during winter months. Goldeneye duck and Bewick’s swans are no longer seen because warmer weather means they can find food nearer to their summer haunts, and have no need to migrate to the UK.
Instead, there has been a marked increase in cattle egret numbers. Once rare in Dorset, they are now common, with about 200 a night roosting in the swannery trees.
