Today, a pair with 2 fresh gooslings has been photograped at a pond in Moravian town Chropyně. It is the first confirmed breeding record for this species in my country. Whooper swan is increasing its breeding range in Europe for decades. It´s got pretty common in Germany and Poland with occasional pairs in Ukraine and Hungary. So it was just a question of time till they come to CZ too. Still a nice addition to our avifauna.
Update on whooper swans: Result of breeding attempt last year was meager. Alltogether 4 chicks hatched, but 3 of them died in various stage of development. The last one got neck band and fledged. This year, the pair laid eggs again at the same pond in Chropyně. Four chicks hatched last week. The breeding female is an famous individual, local birdwatchers call her Zpěvanka (=singing woman). It got a yellow neck band in winter 2006 in North Germany and it was already adult at that time. For over 10 years, it spends its time mostly in Morava, but also in south Poland and overwinters in Hungary. I can recommend visiting this pond in Chropyně if you are bird watcher. Not only there is nice historical manor next to it. This pond has observation tower and you can see gull colony, breeding black-necked grebes, terns, little bitterns and more.
