Although the planes have ceased flying across northern Europe, swan Y6K has safely negotiated the outfall from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and made it to Iceland! The southeasterly winds pushing the ash cloud towards Britain meant that Y6K was effectively flying into head winds, which may well explain why it took him 4.5 days to cross from the Outer Hebrides to Iceland. But he finally came in over east Iceland at mid-day on 17th April and spent the next 24 h resting in fields near Höfn. It is of course difficult to determine the extent to which he changed direction to avoid coming in near the volcano; he should certainly have been able to see the plume whilst still out to sea. But in any event it’s good to find that his arrival tracks were well to the east of the volcano!

Despite the reassuring news of Y6K’s arrival, we do remain concerned for the welfare of Icelandic-breeding goose and swan populations over the coming months. Whilst most of the outfall to date has been in a relatively restricted area to the southeast of the volcano, a change in wind direction could affect humans (notably farmers) and wildlife in other parts of Iceland, particularly if the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruptions continue and if Katla blows. WWT and Icelandic colleagues therefore will continue to monitor any impact on the swan and goose populations breeding in Iceland this summer, both during the summer months and following their migration to Britain and Ireland next autumn.