The Homœopathic Proving of
Bewick's Swan
Cygnus Bewickii
Introduction
Cygnus Bewickii
The Bewick Swan is smaller and lighter than the Whooper Swan. The beak is yellower and Bewick Swans can be recognised as individuals from their beak patterning, which is highly characteristic. Their migration pattern is similar to the Whooper Swans. Their breeding grounds are slightly further north, in the arctic tundra of Russia. From there the Western population migrate to England, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Holland, and a few to the Caspian Sea, while the Eastern population go to China, Korea and Japan. Swans are long lived, and the same swans have been observed to return to Slimbridge annually for as long as 27 years, and in captivity they have lived for 34 years.
Bewick swans like their own space and tend to avoid the more crowded winter resorts. They have recently abandoned some of their former resorts which been taken over by Whoopers, who tend to congregate in larger numbers. The swans are gregarious during the winter months, congregating in extended family groups. At Slimbridge, the larger and longer established family groups occupy the best feeding positions on the lake. The most recent clutch of cygnets tend to stay together with the parents, whereas older siblings will roam further away, but if there is a fight, all the family members will get together and support the male by gathering round closely and gesturing and vocalising aggressively. These fights are quite dramatic to watch, but subside a few weeks into the season, once the pecking order is established, after which the flock appears to live together comparatively peacefully. However, during the breeding season the paired birds need as much as a square kilometre of space to themselves and again will defend this territory aggressively.
Food was an issue in the proving. The Swans need to put on weight in the winter to prepare for the flight to Russia and to be in good condition for breeding, and in summer, the cygnets have only 2-3 months to grow big and strong enough to survive the flight back to the winter feeding grounds. During winters, when there is a swan catch at the beginning and the end of the season, they have been observed to have put on about 2 kilos in weight, 1/3 of their body weight. Swans live mainly on plants, water weeds and tubers growing around the water, and they may also consume pond animals, such as tadpoles that live around the weeds and crustaceans if they are feeding in the estuary. They particularly love the mosquito larvae that abound on the tundra in summer. They are thickly feathered and float quite high up in the water; their long necks enable them to feed below water and occasionally they swim just below the surface, but they do not dive. They need a certain amount of grit in their gizzards for digestion, and this makes them vulnerable to eating lead shot lying on the river banks or lead weights from fishing baits. Lead poisoning is one of the greatest killers, after human hunters. They may also be killed by cold, starvation, animal predators, such as foxes, and overhead cables.
It takes up to five years for the cygnets to reach sexual maturity, during which time they may start to make "alliances" but these do not necessarily last. Mating takes place on the flight back to Russia This involves an elaborate dance, during which they bob their heads in and out of the water, rub necks and make a lot of noise. Actual copulation is relatively short and is followed by a "triumph dance" during which the birds lift up in the water and arch their necks towards each other. Swans who live freely pair for life, never changing partner unless their spouse dies. An exception to this has only once been observed in free swans in the last 20 years, when a pair failed to breed consistently for seven years, after which the female took a new partner and bred successfully. They tend to breed more successfully the longer they have been together. On arrival in the breeding grounds, the female builds a nest straight away on a base of reed stems, lined with moss, feathers and down. Often, they will repair last years nest. Even if there is still snow on the ground when they arrive, they will sit and wait for the thaw in almost exactly the same spot where their nest was the previous year They continue to fly around while they are laying, flying in circles as a pair, morning and evening, but once the eggs are laid they brood continuously for 28-30 days. The swans lay up to five eggs which are much larger than those of other swans Both partners will brood the eggs, but it is more commonly the female, while the male guards the territory. Swans show great dedication as parents. They brood with persistence. Mute swans have been persuaded to sit on an abandoned clutch of eggs, after brooding their own, for a total of about 50 days. At Slimbridge, a young bird crashed into a tree while landing after the flight from Siberia during storms one winter and was badly injured in the chest, breaking its sternum. The parents took it in turns to sit with it constantly until it died about 10 days later. After the cygnets are hatched, they are brooded until their feathers have dried and then led to the water. During this time, adult swans moult their feathers. Bewick pairs both moult at the same time, which leaves them relatively unprotected, as they cannot fly.
The swans fly back to the wintering grounds together as a family group, flying in a V formation with the strongest bird at the head of the V. They fly mainly at night and make habitual stop in certain places, where again they are observed year after year. They stop mainly to rest and feed only briefly, though they will feed more as they approach their destination. They are thought to orient themselves by the stars as well as coastlines.
The Bewick swans have frequented the wildfowl reserve in Slimbridge ever since Peter Scott encouraged them to settle there by feeding them regularly in winter and preventing the lake from freezing over. Slimbridge also acts as a centre where data is collected about the swans during their journey to the breeding grounds and from Russia. Every year the swans are caught during the coldest part of the season. They are accustomed to being fed morning and evening in a certain part of the lake where there is a large netting funnel. On the day of the catch they are driven into the narrow part of the funnel and then it is closed off. The swans are then caught by helpers who put them in straight jackets which pinion their wings to their sides, thus immobilising them. Then they are ringed, weighed, measured, x-rayed (to detect lead shot) and blood samples are taken. Then they are released. The feather for the proving was left in her jacket by a female swan named Chirpy, whose mate, Laugh, is one of the swans that has been coming to Slimbridge the longest.
One of the provers had a dream of driving fast up a road where the walls either side became narrower and narrower, and finally the end was blocked. Another prover had a dream of a house where the door had been walled up and she was indignant about it. I wondered if these dreams were a reflection of the way the swans were caught.
Times given are the actual time of day, not time from taking the remedy. XX.XX indicates no specific time was noted.
Days are the number of days since the remedy was taken. This is a different system from that used on the other provings on this site.
| Prover | Sex | Dose | Potency |
| 01P | Male | 3 | 6c |
| 02P | Female | 3 | 12c |
| 03P | Female | 4 | 30c |
| 04P | Female | 3 | 6c |
| 05P | Female | 5 | 12c |
| 06P | Female | 5 | 30c |
| 07P | Female | 5 | 12c |
| 08P | Female | 30c |
NS A new symptom never before experienced.
OS An old symptom previously experienced, but not in the preceding year.
RS A recent symptom experienced within the last year.
AS An altered symptom, one previously experienced but with at least one quality changed.
CS A cured symptom, a symptom that was removed during the proving.
IOS An old symptom that is felt with significantly greater intensity than before.
Copyright Penny Stirling 2003
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