Swan's return from Siberia is latest since 1981

The return of a Bewick's swan to an English nature reserve has ended fears that the birds would attempt to survive the winter in an unseasonably warm Siberia. Hundreds of the birds usually arrive at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire in October.

As the month wore on, fears grew that climate change meant that the weather in their summer retreat was still so warm the swans might not come back to Britain. But the arrival of Anga at 6.30am on Saturday confirmed that the swans were on their way back, conservationists said. She has visited Slimbridge every year since 2005 and has been one of the first swans to arrive for the past four years.

Julia Newth, wildlife research officer at WWT, said: "A mild autumn and weeks of westerly winds have not provided the best conditions for migration. So we were not surprised the plummeting temperatures and easterly winds of the past few days have encouraged the swans to complete their 1,800-mile migration from arctic Russia. It is not unheard of for the swans to arrive this late. Over the past 20 years, Bewick's have arrived at Slimbridge between 13 and 29 October, but the last time the swans arrived in November was in 1981."

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