this year, 91 bewick�*s swans have been seen at slimbridge.so just to give you an idea, in the mid—1990s we were looking at around 29,000 birds in the population in europe and now we think that's fewer than, there is fewer than 18,000. so welcome to the scott house museum. this is where the bill pattern study first started in 1963. this winter is the 60th anniversary of the bewick�*s swan survey. it was started by conservationist sir peter scott, who sat at this window meticulously painting the beaks of every swan. you can see here these beautiful drawings that he did of each individual bill pattern and you can see that there are three perspectives that he painted for each swan. this is one of the world's longest running animal research projects. the advantage of having so much data year after year is the information it provides notjust about how they live and how they migrate, but how this beautiful swans are adapting to our warming, changing climate. the decline of the bewick�*s is being blamed in part on their wetland habitat being destroye

this year, 91 bewick�*s swans have been seen at slimbridge. conservationist sir peter scott, who sat at this window meticulously painting the beaks of every swan. you can see here these beautiful drawings that he did of each individual bill pattern, and you can see that there are three perspectives that he painted for each swan. this is one of the world's longest running animal research projects. and the advantage of having so much data year after year is the information it provides notjust about how they live and how they migrate, but how this beautiful swans are adapting to our warming, changing climate. the decline of the bewick�*s is being blamed in part on their wetland habitat being destroyed. climate change is also altering their migration routes. longer summers in the russian arctic and warmer european autumns mean the swans don't have to come as far as slimbridge to find winter feeding grounds. it's just one lake and a single species, but chronicled over 60 years, the bewick�*s fate is a telling snapshot of our rapidly changing planet

the decline of the bewick�*s is being blamed in part on their wetland habitat being destroyed.limate change is also altering their migration routes. longer summers in the russian arctic and warmer european autumns mean the swans don't have to come as far as slimbridge to find winter feeding grounds. it's just one lake and a single species, but chronicled over 60 years the bewick�*s fate is a telling snapshot of our rapidly changing planet. jonah fisher, bbc news, at slimbridge. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. great weather for webbed feet, i think, is the best description. it's really trying our patients at the moment. it seems to have been relentless. a lot of the countryside looking like this, fairly flooded. there are literally hundreds at the moment of flood warnings and i suspect we will be adding to those this evening across southern england, as more heavy rain is expected. so keep watching the forecast, tune into your bbc local radio station for updates, but it's this swirl of cloud that's starting to push on from the south—west and this will bring a

this year, 91 bewicks swans have been seen at slimbridge. in the mid—1990s we were looking at around 29,000 birds in the population in europe, and now we think there's fewer than 18,000. so there's a huge decline in their numbers. so, welcome to the scott house museum. this is where the bill pattern study first started in 1963. this winter is the 60th anniversary of the bewicks swan survey. it was started by conservationist sir peter scott, who sat at this window meticulously painting the beaks of every swan. here is one of the bewicks swan books that peter worked on, and you can see here these beautiful drawings that he did of each individual bill pattern. and you can see that there are three perspectives that he painted for each swan. and that's the left and the right side, but also the front. this is one of the world's longest running animal research projects. and the advantage of having so much data year after year is the information it provides, not just about how they live and how they migrate, but how these beautiful swans are adaptin